Twice-Cooked Pork Belly Stir-fry #1
These pork belly bites might be square, but they will leave you round [Photo credit: Alex Paternostro]
by Seth Paternostro
November 3, 2021
Pork belly falls into three categories of cooked: strikingly crisp, luxuriously soft, or kind of chewy. Bacon, braises, and our twice-cooked pork belly stir-fry, respectively, represent this general range. Yet, aside from beef jerky, chewy is an adjective rarely attributed to the meat products us American-ers enjoy. We like our loins tender, thighs juicy, and big breasts. Give chewy a chance, though, and you’ll soon find that there’s another hunk of meat you’d like to slap in the pan.
Serves 4
Total time
45 minutes
Equipment:
cutting boards, chef’s knife or cleaver, small mixing bowls, large mixing bowl, chopsticks, spoon, wok shovel, medium-sized pot, colander, clean towels or paper towels, measuring spoons, large well-seasoned carbon steel wok, wok stand (if needed), “grease gutter” (small pan to pour off used oil), squirt bottle (for fresh oil)
Tableware:
warm serving plate, utensils
Ingredients
1 lb pork belly, skin-off
4 cloves garlic
1-inch ginger
4 scallions
1 thai bird chile
1 tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsps oyster sauce
2 tbsps Shaoxing wine
¼ tsp sugar
Rice wine vinegar, as needed
Water, as needed
Peanut oil, as needed
Kosher salt, as needed
Instructions
Set out all equipment, tableware, and ingredients. Wash the vegetables.
Heat the pot over medium. Peel, and smash 1 clove garlic and ½-inch ginger. Cut off 1 scallion white, and smash it, too.
Add a thin layer of oil to the pot, toss in the crushed aromatics, and stir briefly. Drizzle in 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, and let the alcohol evaporate. Pour over about 4 inches of water, add 2 tsps kosher salt, then bring to a light boil.
Cut the pork belly along the grain into strips about 2-inch by 2-inch by however long the piece is. Add to the water, and cook for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, slice the rest of the garlic, mince the ginger, de-seed and slice the chile pepper, thinly cut the scallion whites, and divide the scallion greens into 2-inch lengths on a slight bias.
Combine the soy sauces, oyster sauce, 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, and sugar in a small bowl. Taste, and adjust with more light soy sauce or sugar to your liking.
Half-fill a large mixing bowl with cold water, and add 1 tsp salt. Remove the pork from the pot, and place in the cold water. When cool enough to handle, dry thoroughly with a towel, and cut ⅛-inch thick slices against the grain. The pieces should be roughly square and will not be fully cooked through.
Save the blanching liquid to form the base of a tasty soup if desired.
Preheat a wok over high heat until smoking, swirl in a small amount of oil to coat, and pour out excess in the “grease-gutter,” which can be placed at the center-back region of the stove.
When beginning to smoke again, place the pork into the wok, immediately spreading it out in approximately a single layer.
Once the pork has browned slightly, stir-fry until quite a bit of fat has rendered, and the pieces are fully cooked.
Add the ginger, garlic, thai bird chile, and scallion whites, then toss until fragrant. Pour the sauce around the edges of the wok, and stir to coat evenly. Mix in the scallion greens, and take off the heat.
Taste, adjust with salt and vinegar if desired, then scoop on to the serving plate, including as little or as much of the rendered fat as you desire.
Enjoy a hearty pork belly stir-fry that will keep you satisfied all day long.
NUTRITION FACTS:
Calories 637 Total Fat 61.2g (78%) Saturated Fat 21.9g (110%) Cholesterol 80mg (27%) Sodium 1388mg (60%) Total Carbohydrate 11.6g (4%) Dietary Fiber 3.1g (11%) Total Sugars 7.5g Protein 12.3g Vitamin D 0mcg (0%) Calcium 16mg (1%) Iron 2mg (9%) Potassium 19mg (0%) - Note: Please read our Nutrition Disclaimer.
Seth Paternostro is a writer and recipe developer based in Chicago. He is a co-founder of Our American Cuisine and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with an A.B. in East Asian Studies. You can learn more about him here.
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