Twice-Cooked Pork

Cover the 500 g skin-on pork belly slab with cold water and add 2 ginger slices and 1 tsp cooking wine. Bring to a boil, skim, and reduce to a gentle simmer. Start checking after about 30 minutes; the pork should be easily pierced but remain intact. Confirm at least 63°C in the thickest part with a food thermometer. Remove, rest for at least 3 minutes, and let cool enough to handle and slice. Timing varies with thickness; piercing and colour alone do not establish doneness.

Pat the cooled pork dry and slice about 3–4 mm thick. Wash the green garlic and peppers. Cut the green garlic into 4–5 cm lengths, separating pale stems from leaves. Deseed and diagonally slice the bell pepper; stem and diagonally slice the red chili into rings. Prepare the remaining 2 ginger slices and thinly slice the 4 garlic cloves. Finely chop the doubanjiang and roughly chop the black beans.

Add the pork to a hot dry wok. Cook over medium-low heat until some fat turns translucent, the edges curl lightly and the surfaces are golden, without drying the slices into crisp chips. Remove the pork and spoon out excess fat, leaving a thin layer for frying the paste. Add a little cooking oil only if too little fat has rendered.

Over low heat, fry the remaining 2 ginger slices, sliced garlic and 1 tsp fermented black beans until fragrant. Add 1 tbsp Pixian doubanjiang and stir gently until aromatic and the oil turns red. Lower the heat if the paste sticks or darkens too quickly; do not let it blacken.

Return the pork and stir-fry over high heat. Add 1 tsp light soy sauce and 1/2 tsp sugar, tossing until the slices are evenly coated.

Add the green bell pepper, fresh red chili and pale green-garlic stems. Stir-fry over high heat until the pepper is crisp-tender and the stems lose their raw firmness. Add the leaves last and toss until just wilted but still green, with a thin sauce coating on the pork. Serve immediately.