Twice-Cooked Pork

Locale: China

Source: Irene Kuo, The Key to Chinese Cooking [p. 334]

Ingredients

  • 1 lb boneless pork loin, in 1 piece
  • 2 quarter-sized slices peeled ginger
  • 2 medium-sized green bell peppers
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
  • 2 whole scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

Sauce:

  • 1 tbs hot bean paste
  • 2 tbs sweet bean paste
  • 1 tbs dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbs dry sherry
  • 1.5-2 tsp sugar (to taste)
  • 2 tbs water
  • 4 tbs oil
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Steps

  1. Do not trim fat from meat. Cover with boiling water to 1 inch above the meat, add ginger, and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam, turn heat to medium low to maintain a string simmering, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes. Drain the meat, and chill until very firm.

  2. Cut the meat lengthwise into 2 strips, then cut the strips crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Seed, derib, and cut the peppers into pieces approximating the size of the meat. Prep the garlic and scallions. Mix the sauce.

  3. Heat a heavy skillet until hot. Add 2 tbs oil, swirl, lower the heat and toss the peppers. Sprinkle with salt, and stir-fry rapidly for aobut 2 minutes. Pour them into a dish. They should be softly crisp, not limp.

  4. Add remaining 2 tbs oil, heat, toss in garlic. Reduce heat to medium. Add the pork and scallions, and toss briskly for about 3 minutes, until the meat is still and brown. Add the peppers without oil residue, and toss well. Turn heat to high. Stir and add the sauce, and fold it in until the meat is well coated. Add the sesame oil.

Notes

  1. Recipe calls for pork loin, but I usually use pork belly or side, which I think is the more traditional choice. I trim the skin and adjacent fat off after chilling and before slicing.

  2. Instead of the hot/sweet bean sauces, I usually use 1.5 tbs of ground bean sauce, 1.5 tbs hoisin sauce, and a 0.5 tsp (or less) chili oil.

  3. I prefer red bell peppers to green here, and tend to overcook them. Kuo suggests bamboo shoots and/or pressed bean curd, cut to match the peppers, as variations. I usually make this with bamboo shoots.

Log

  1. 2025-11-09: