Twice cooked pork or hui guo rou is a traditional dish in Chengdu. People used to boil the pork first so that it can be preserved for a longer time before it’s used (before they had refrigerators!). Along with Mapo tofu, hui guo rou is another staple dish to make in Sichuan cuisine! This dish is great for a simple dinner to share with family or add it to the menu of a party! It is just the BEST!!!
If you travel to Chengdu, you can see hanging pork belly in front of traditional restaurants in Chengdu. You can order the dish and the cook will cut off a slice of the already cooked pork and cook it in the dish for a second time! The pork belly is actually very delicious after cooked twice because you can’t taste the fat!
It’s actually surprisingly simple to make twice cooked pork. The first step is boil the pork belly in hot water for about 20 minutes. Then slice the cooked pork belly. Lastly, just stir fry it with Sichuan Doubanjiang, ginger and garlic leaves or peppers and onions.
To make the traditional hui guo rou, you have to have the right kind of dou ban jiang (broad bean paste). Make sure your dou ban jiang originated from Sichuan Chengdu!!! This will guarantee the authentic taste! Here are the well known brands of Pixian Doubanjiang I commonly buy
- Juan-cheng ( Chinese: 鹃城牌)
- Chuan Lao Hui (Chinese: 川老汇）
- Dandan (Chinese: 丹丹）
Ingredients: Pork Belly (0.5 lb) Garlic (6 cloves) Genger Leek (1 stock) Green pepper (half) Red Pepper (half) Sichuan Douban Jiang (1 table spoon) Light soy sauce (1 tea spoon) Dark soy sauce (half tea spoon) Sugar (half tea spoon)
[…] hard to make Mapo Tofu. The one ingredient I have to stress is Douban Jiang (郫县豆瓣酱). Like twice cooked pork, you have to get the right kind of doubanjiang for this dish otherwise it won’t taste the […]