Key Points for Cooking Twice-Cooked Pork

Stir-fried pork belly is a traditional dish in Sichuan cuisine, and holds a very important position within it. Stir-fried meat is often used as the first choice when evaluating Sichuan dishes. Stir-fried meat has long been considered the pinnacle of Sichuan cuisine, and to mention Sichuan food inevitably means stir-fried meat.

1 Meat Selection

The selection of meat is very meticulous; one must choose back shoulder meat,near the. The meat should be from the side of the pig. We know that pork has a tight and tender texture, but compared to other parts, the sit-bone meat appears slightly coarser and firmer. Moreover, it has an appropriate ratio of fat and lean. If too lean, the dish will feel old and tough;if too fatty, it will be greasy. Therefore, a 60% fat and 40% lean ratio is ideal. Therefore, it should have 60% fat and 40% lean.

2 Cooking until half-done

Half-done refers to cooking to about seven-tenths done. Here we don't explain the exact definition, but it's basically around seven-tenths done in terms of cooking.How can you tell if it’s half-done? There are two methods: one, use a bamboo skewer; if it can easily be inserted without leaking blood, it is just right;the other is to cut open the meat; no blood should come out from the cut. The reasons for achieving this state include not only taste requirements but also shape expectations. The dish should curl slightly, resembling a "lantern-shaped" form to add visual appeal and stimulate appetite. Secondly, in terms of shape, the finished dish should slightly curl, resembling a "lantern cup" shape as described by Mei Zhu LuLu, which adds dynamism and enhances appetite.

3 Shape Requirements

There are no specific size requirements for the meat slices,

but they must be around 6 centimeters long and 3 centimeters wide. They should not be too thick; otherwise, they will feel greasy when eaten.

The reason why sliced pork is not greasy despite being fatty lies mainly in its mouthfeel.4 Preservation of Skin

The skin plays a crucial role in stir-fried meat making it fatty but not greasy.

With the skin inside,the dish has a crisp texture.,5 Side Dishes Selection Common choices include green bell peppers, stem garlic, and green onions. However, green onions are best because of their color contrast with the red stir-fried meat; they also provide freshness and tenderness,which other vegetables cannot match. With green onions, the dish has a combination of light and dark colors as well as textures that balance thickness and flavor. Second, it is fresh, crisp, tender, and refreshingly not greasy, qualities that cannot be matched by other dishes.6 Frying to Release Oil

The use of fire in stir-fried meat is very particular. It's not just about cooking it through;

two points must be noted: one, do not use too much oil; a little more than usual will suffice. Two, the temperature should not be too high to prevent frying instead of stir-frying. Cooking with minimal oil at low heat causes the fat in the meat to melt and release, reducing the greasiness. How can you tell if the oil has been released? By checking the amount of oil;a slight increase is enough, but not too much; otherwise, it will become tough. How can one determine if the meat has released enough oil?7 SeasoningIn addition to common seasonings, consider adding a bit of sweet bean sauce for depth without overusing it. A small amount of sugar can add sweetness and thickness, while rice wine enhances the aroma when stir-fried with doubanjiang, preventing it from drying out.

Avoid soy sauce; its role is to color and enhance saltiness, which is already provided by doubanjiang.

Besides what everyone already knows, here are a few more points: first, add a little sweet bean sauce to make the flavor rich; do not use too much. Second, add a bit of sugar, as a slight sweetness is required for this dish. The sweet bean sauce thickens the taste while the sugar adds thickness. Third, add some yellow wine and cook it with doubanjiang (fermented broad bean paste), this allows the alcohol and doubanjiang to interact, imparting a fragrance of the alcohol and preventing the doubanjiang from becoming dry. Fourth, avoid adding soy sauce, as soy sauce is used for coloring and increasing saltiness. These functions are already achieved by the doubanjiang, so it should not be added.