Huiguorou — Twice-Cooked Pork with Leeks

Ingredients

• 1 lb skin-on pork belly, in one slab
• 3 slices ginger
• 2 scallions, halved
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 cups Leeks, cut on a sharp diagonal
• 1½ tbsp doubanjiang (fermented broad bean paste)
• 2 tsp sweet bean sauce or hoisin
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tsp sugar

Method

1. Simmer the pork belly with the ginger, scallions, and Shaoxing wine in water to cover for 20 minutes, until a chopstick slides in with slight resistance. Cool, then chill 20 minutes so it slices cleanly.
2. Cut the cold belly into paper-thin bite-size slices, skin and all. Thin is the entire technique — thick slices stay chewy.
3. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high and lay in the pork. Render it until the edges curl and cup like little tiles and the pan has a shallow slick of fat, 4–5 minutes. Pour off all but a tablespoon.
4. Push the pork aside, add the doubanjiang and sweet bean sauce to the hot fat, and fry 30 seconds until the oil turns deep red. Add garlic and sugar.
5. Toss in the Leeks and stir-fry hard for 2 minutes — you want them wilted but still snapping. Serve over steamed rice.