Chinese · Sichuan · main

Twice-Cooked Pork (Hui Guo Rou)

Twice-Cooked Pork (Hui Guo Rou) reads umami 8.3, richness 6.4 and salinity 4.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Chinese · Sichuan main, about 2 hr 37 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 8.3 · Richness 6.4 · Salinity 4.9 · Sweetness 4.1 · Funk & Ferment 4.0 · Nutty 3.0 · Warm Spice 2.6 · Allium 2.4 · Heat 1.9 · Herbaceous 1.9 · Smoke 1.6 · Bitterness 1.2 · Earthy 1.0 · Sourness 0.6

What's in it (11)

Time & effort: about 2 hr 37 min (36 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 240.6 kcal, 4.7 g protein, 23 g fat, 3.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

  1. Put the pork belly in a pan with the ginger, spring onions and Shaoxing wine, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Skim, then simmer gently for 25 to 30 minutes, until a chopstick pushes into the thickest part with only slight resistance. It should be cooked through but still firm, not falling apart.
  2. Lift the pork out and cool it completely, ideally 2 hours in the fridge. Cold meat is the only way to get the slices thin enough. Cut across the piece into slices 2 to 3 mm thick, each carrying skin, fat and lean.
  3. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the pork and stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes until the slices curl at the edges into little cups, which the Sichuanese call lamp-shades, and the fat has turned glassy and released into the wok.
  4. Turn the heat to medium. Push the pork to one side, add the chilli bean paste and stir 30 seconds until the oil runs red, then the sweet fermented sauce and black beans for 20 seconds more.
  5. Add the soy sauce and sugar, toss everything together, then throw in the green garlic. Stir-fry 1 minute over high heat, just until the stems are limp at the base and the leaves still bright. Serve immediately with rice.
  6. Substitutions: baby leeks can stand in for the Chinese green garlic stems.

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Keep reading: what umami, richness, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.