Twice-cooked pork

Name: Twice-cooked pork
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 3 people
Cuisine: Sichuan
Ingredients: 400 g Pork, skin-on belly or skin-on leg, in one piece; 15 g Ginger, sliced; 2 piece Spring onion; 1 tsp Sichuan pepper; 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine; 1 tbsp Neutral oil; 1.5 tbsp Doubanjiang, chopped; 1 tsp Fermented black beans, rinsed and lightly crushed; 2 tsp Sweet bean sauce or Hoisin sauce; 0.5 tsp Sugar; 1 tsp Soy sauce, only if it needs salt; 1 medium Leek, or a bunch of garlic leaves, cut on the diagonal into 4 cm pieces

回锅肉

Sichuan hui guo rou: pork belly simmered, chilled and sliced thin, then stir-fried until the slices curl, with doubanjiang, black beans, sweet bean sauce and leek.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: 回锅肉.

Start cooking

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 40 min
Rest: 1 hr
Total: 2 hr
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Medium heat
Cost: Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

Image coming soon

About

Hui guo rou means 'back in the pot pork', and it is the dish Sichuan home cooks are judged by. A piece of skin-on pork belly is simmered whole until just cooked, cooled until firm, then sliced as thin as you can manage. The slices go into a hot wok with very little oil and fry until the fat renders and they curl into little cups. Then comes doubanjiang, fried until the oil turns red, a few fermented black beans and a spoon of sweet bean sauce, and finally garlic leaves or leek, cooked just until bright. It should be salty, rich and only medium hot.

What you'll need

12 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 12 ready

3 servings

To boil
To fry

Ingredients

Servings

To boil

Pork, skin-on belly or skin-on leg, in one piece400 g
Ginger, sliced15 g
Spring onion2
Sichuan pepper4.9 ml
Shaoxing wine15 ml

To fry

Neutral oil15 ml
Doubanjiang, chopped22 ml
Fermented black beans, rinsed and lightly crushed4.9 ml
Choose one
Sweet bean sauce9.9 ml
Sugar2½ ml
Soy sauce, only if it needs salt (optional)4.9 ml
Leek, or a bunch of garlic leaves, cut on the diagonal into 4 cm pieces1 medium

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Put the pork in a saucepan with cold water to cover, the ginger, spring onion, Sichuan pepper and wine. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 20 to 25 minutes, until a chopstick goes through the thickest part with only a little resistance.
30 min
Step 2
Lift out the pork, let it cool, then chill it for at least an hour, or overnight, until firm. Slice across the grain as thinly as you can, 2 to 3 mm, so each slice has skin, fat and lean.
60 min
Tip: Cold pork slices cleanly. Warm pork tears.
Step 3
Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the pork slices in a single layer and fry, turning now and then, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the fat is translucent, some fat has run out and the slices have curled into cups.
5 min
Step 4
Push the pork to one side and turn the heat to medium. Fry the doubanjiang in the oil for about 30 seconds, until the oil turns red and smells fragrant, then add the black beans and sweet bean sauce for a few seconds and toss everything together with the sugar.
2 min
Watch: Doubanjiang burns quickly on high heat. Lower the heat before it goes in.
Step 5
Add the leek, turn the heat back up and toss for 1 to 2 minutes, until it is bright and just tender. Taste, add a little soy sauce only if it needs salt, and serve at once with rice.
2 min

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 427 kcal
Protein: 38.4 g
Carbs: 12.9 g
Fat: 23.7 g
Saturated fat: 7.2 g
Fibre: 1.9 g
Sugar: 4.3 g
Sodium: 749 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Soy
Wheat

Dairy-free
Nut-free

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.

Substitutions

Garlic leaves (suan miao) → Leek or the green part of spring onions
Garlic leaves are the classic but hard to find outside China. Leek is the usual stand-in.
Sweet bean sauce → Hoisin sauce
Hoisin is sweeter and spiced. Use half as much.

Tips

Keep the cooking water. It is a light pork stock, and Sichuan cooks drink a bowl of it with a few greens.
Green peppers, sliced cabbage or bamboo shoots all stand in for the leek, especially out of garlic-leaf season.
Use less oil than you think. The pork gives up its own fat, and the dish should be glossy, not swimming.

History & culture

This is everyday Sichuan home food, eaten with a lot of rice. Families once made it on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month, when pork boiled for the household offering came back to the kitchen. Lunch counters across Chengdu serve it, and cooks still argue over whether the slices have curled properly into 'lamp-dish' cups.

The story goes that the dish began with that offering pork: boiled for the ancestors, then returned to the wok for the living. Its key flavour, Pixian doubanjiang, is tied to migrants from Fujian and Guangdong who resettled the Chengdu plain in the 17th and 18th centuries. Chilli itself only reached Sichuan in the late Ming or early Qing.

Traditional — Garlic leaves (suan miao) are the traditional green; leek is used here because it is easy to buy. Chengdu cooks often prefer erdao rou, a skin-on cut from the hind leg with a slightly leaner layer than belly.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Twice-cooked pork take?

2 hr all in — 20 min prep, 40 min cook, 1 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 3 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Medium.

How spicy is it?

Medium heat.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Soy, Wheat. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free, Nut-free.

10 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Saucepan, Wok, Chef's knife, Cutting board.

How much salt do I put in?

This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Soy sauce — 1 tsp (only if it needs salt, optional). Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.

How much sugar?

½ tsp of Sugar.

How much soy sauce?

1 tsp (only if it needs salt, optional) of Soy sauce.

What can I use instead?

Garlic leaves (suan miao) → Leek or the green part of spring onions. Garlic leaves are the classic but hard to find outside China. Leek is the usual stand-in. Sweet bean sauce → Hoisin sauce. Hoisin is sweeter and spiced. Use half as much.

What should I watch for?

Doubanjiang burns quickly on high heat. Lower the heat before it goes in.

Any tips from this recipe?

Keep the cooking water. It is a light pork stock, and Sichuan cooks drink a bowl of it with a few greens. Green peppers, sliced cabbage or bamboo shoots all stand in for the leek, especially out of garlic-leaf season. Use less oil than you think. The pork gives up its own fat, and the dish should be glossy, not swimming.

Can I prepare this ahead?

Cold pork slices cleanly. Warm pork tears.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.