Stir-Fried Cabbage with Sliced Pork Belly

Shousi Baocai Chao Rou (手撕包菜炒肉)

Stir-fried cabbage is mixed with crispy slices of pork belly and powerful flavors from garlic, ginger, and chilies, all of it coated in a tangy, salty sauce.

This is one of my favorite dishes to order from a local Hunan restaurant. Like Sichuan food, Hunan cuisine highlights the best of Southwest Chinese dining. The food is spicy and packed with tons of flavor often from garlic, ginger, and chilies. The flavors of this dish were so similar to Sichuan cuisine I knew I had to recreate it, and it was actually quite simple. The flavors were almost identical to that of my Hand-Torn Cabbage (手撕包菜) recipe and the pork was almost definitely cooked in the same manner as Twice-Cooked Pork (回锅肉). Knowing this, it was simply a matter of combining the two recipes and hoping for the best.

BUT boy was I surprised!

Not only did I manage to recreate the flavors I loved with a slight Sichuan twist, I think I cooked the pork even better than that of the Hunan restaurant. The pork turned out ultra-flavorful and tender with addictingly crispy edges. As for the differences between the following recipe and the dish I order from the Hunan restaurant, there are only a few. The Hunan restaurant uses little to no Sichuan pepper, which I added here for a little more of a Sichuan variation. The Hunan restaurant uses slightly more oil. Finally, the way in which the Hunan restaurant prepares garlic is slightly different, because instead of slicing these aromatics, they simply cut the garlic cloves in half.

While this dish has meat, it is actually considered a vegetable dish. This is because the amount of meat is minimal compared with the amount of cabbage. You could, of course, increase the amount of meat so that the dish resembles twice-cooked pork. However, the crispy slices of pork belly are like a wonderful surprise among the delicious cabbage, so that the richness of the pork belly balances with the subdued flavor of the cabbage.

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 35 min

Total Time: 40 min

Serving: 4 people

Ingredients

100 – 150 g. of Pork Belly (about a 4-inch by 1-inch block)

Boiling Ingredients
1/8 cup Shaoxing Rice Wine
1 2-inch block of Ginger (Lightly Smashed)
1 2-inch-long white stalk of Scallion
1 tsp. Green Sichuan Peppercorns

1/2 head of Cabbage

Aromatics
5 fresh Red Chilies
4 – 6 cloves of Garlic
1 2-inch block of Ginger

Chilies
10 – 15 Dried Red Chilies
1 tsp. Green Sichuan Peppercorns

Peanut Oil

Sauces and Seasonings
2 tsp. Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Chinkiang Black Vinegar
1 tsp. White Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. MSG
1/2 tsp. Chicken Bouillon Powder

Directions

1.) Place the Pork Belly in a pot, fill the pot with about 1.5 liters of water, and add the Boiling Ingredients (Rice Wine, Ginger, Scallion, and Sichuan Peppercorns).

(If the Pork Belly has skin, first remove the skin or sear the skin to remove the very outer layer).

2.) Heat the pot on high and bring the water to a boil. As the water heats, skim away any scum the rises to the surface so that once the water reaches a rolling boil, the water is mostly clear.

3.) After the water has reached a rolling boil, cut off the heat, remove the Pork from the boiling water, and place it in a clean bowl. Fill the bowl with cold water to quickly cool the Pork. Pat the Pork Belly thoroughly dry with a paper towel.

(It's extremely important that the surface of the Pork Belly is dry to prevent hot oil splashing during cooking).

4.) Set the Pork Belly on a cutting board with the skin facing you and thinly slice the Pork an 1/8-inch thick. Set these Pork slices aside in a small bowl.

5.) Prepare the 1/2 head of Cabbage:

• Remove the tough inner core at the base by cutting twice at opposite angles into the Cabbage.
• Separate all of the leaves.
• Tear away the soft parts of each leaf leaving behind the tough stem. (The stems can be discarded or pickled). Try to keep the torn leaves in large pieces.
• Set the hand-torn pieces of Cabbage in a large bowl.

6.) Prepare the Aromatics:

• Cut the Fresh Red Chilies into 1/2-inch pieces.
• Peel and thickly slice the Garlic.
• Peel and thickly slice the Ginger.

7.) Snip the Dried Red Chilies into 1/2-inch pieces and place them in a bowl with the Sichuan Peppercorns. This will be the bowl of Chilies.

8.) Heat a seasoned wok on medium-high heat and about 1/4 cup of Peanut Oil. When the Oil is hot but not smoking, carefully slide in the Pork slices and pan-fry them (煎), by gently swirling them around the bottom of the wok and tossing or flipping the pieces occasionally. Cook the slices for about 1 minute until fully cooked with just a bit of crispiness forming around the edges.

9.) Remove the wok from heat and add the bowl of Aromatics, stir-frying them with the Pork just a few seconds until fragrant. Then, add the bowl of Chilies and stir-fry them just a few seconds until fragrant.

10.) Add the torn Cabbage leaves, return the wok to heat, and stir-fry everything until the leaves have softened.

11.) Pull the wok away from the heat and add the Sauces and Seasonings (Soy Sauce, Vinegar, Sugar, Salt, MSG, and Chicken Bouillon), splashing the sauces around the inner sides of the wok.

12.) Return the wok to heat and toss everything together vigorously until fully combined. Spoon the delicious Stir-Fried Cabbage with Sliced Pork Belly onto a plate and serve immediately along with individual bowls of white rice.

 

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