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Twice-Cooked Pork Belly for a Crowd

by Matt Kennard

A whole 4 1/2 lb slab, cooked the twice-cooked way with what a regular supermarket actually stocks. No doubanjiang, no special trip.

Serves
10
Active
45 min
Total
5 hr
SimmeredSearedPorkDinnerEntertaining
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Feeding ten

A slab this size is about 10 servings alongside rice, or 6 if it's the only thing on the table. Fry only what you'll eat: sliced, cooked belly keeps 4 days cold and freezes flat in bags, and the second cook takes ten minutes whenever you want it.

If you find the real thing

Swap the chili garlic sauce and miso for 4½ tbsp Pixian chili bean paste (doubanjiang), and add 3 tbsp hoisin and 1 tbsp rinsed fermented black beans. That's the traditional build. It's worth ordering online once — the jars last months, and they make every mapo tofu afterwards better.

If it's not right

  • Slices tear instead of cutting → not cold enough, or the slab was still warm in the middle. Overnight is safest for a piece this size.
  • Nothing curls → too thick, the pan wasn't hot enough, or too many slices in at once.
  • Greasy → pour off more rendered fat between batches.
  • Flat-tasting → the sauce needs to hit hot fat and toast for half a minute. Added off the heat it stays raw.
  • Too salty → miso and soy both bring salt, and it concentrates as the sauce reduces. Hold back the soy and add it at the end next time.

Ingredients

10

Method

  1. Simmer 35-40 min · a chopstick goes through with slight resistance

    Simmer. Put the whole slab in your largest pot with the ginger, scallion, sherry and peppercorns. Cover with cold water and bring to a bare simmer. Cooked through, still firm.

  2. Rest 4 hours · properly cold

    Chill. Lift it out, cool it, and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight. It has to be properly cold to slice thin.

  3. Prep mixed

    Mix the sauce. Stir the chili garlic sauce, miso, soy, sugar and sherry together in a bowl. Doing this now means it goes into a hot pan in one motion.

  4. Prep about 2 mm thick

    Slice. A slab this size gives you a lot of slices; work in a few passes and keep them in piles.

  5. Fry the edges curl

    Dry-fry, in batches. Heat a wok or your heaviest pan over medium-high with no oil. Lay slices in a single layer and fry until the fat renders and the edges curl. Crowding is what ruins this, so do three or four batches and pour the rendered fat into a bowl as it builds.

  6. Fry 30 sec · darkened and toasty

    Bloom the sauce. With the last batch still in the pan, push it aside, add a tablespoon of the rendered fat back if needed, and fry the garlic 20 seconds. Add the sauce mixture and cook until it darkens and smells toasty.

  7. Fry 2 min · coated, leeks just softened

    Combine. Return all the pork, add the leeks, and toss. In a home wok this is easier in two goes, splitting the sauce.

  8. Prep served

    Serve with plain rice and something sharp -- pickled cucumber, or a cabbage salad with vinegar.

If it's not right

What you seeWhyWhat to do
Slices tear instead of cutting Not cold enough, or the slab was still warm in the middle. Overnight is safest for a piece this size.
Nothing curls Too thick, the pan was not hot enough, or too many slices at once. Thinner, hotter, fewer.
Greasy Rendered fat left in the pan between batches. Pour off more between batches.
Flat-tasting The sauce went in off the heat and stayed raw. It needs to hit hot fat and toast for half a minute.
Too salty Miso and soy both bring salt, and it concentrates as the sauce reduces. Hold back the soy and add it at the end next time.

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