Sichuan Double Cooked Pork 回鍋肉

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

• 675g belly pork

• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly

• 1 red pepper, cut into 1 inch squares

• 1 green pepper, cut into 1 inch squares

• 2 dried chillies, seeded and shredded

• 2 spring onions, cut into 2 inch sections

• 4 tbsps vegetable oil

Sauce:

• 2 ½ tbsps dark soya sauce

• 1 ½ - 2 tbsps light soya sauce

• 1 ½ tbsps hoisin sauce

• 2 tbsps chicken stock

• 1 ½ tbsps tomato puree

• 1 ½ tbsps chilli sauce

• 1 ½ tbsps sugar

Recipe Provider

Mr Campbell But

Method:

• Place the pork in a large saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 mins.

• Leave the pork to cool in the water for another 30 mins and then drain.

• Slice the pork into 1 inch pieces.

• Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and add the onion. Cook for 1 min before adding the pork.

• Stir-fry over a high heat for about 3 mins before adding the peppers, chillies and spring onions.

• Continue cooking for another min before adding all the sauce ingredients.

• Bring to the boil and serve piping hot.

Story:

Version 1

The dish is said to have originated from the Qing Dynasty, while the Qianlong Emperor toured Sichuan. Qianlong demanded a feast in every stop that he made, and, when he approached one particular village, the villagers fretted. The crops had not been harvesting well that year, and there may not have been enough to host the emperor. Fearing prosecution, the villagers hastily dumped their leftovers into the pot, cooked them again (thus "twice cooking" them) and served the resulting dish to the emperor. To their surprise, the emperor enjoyed it, and so the "twice cooked pork" became a famous Sichuan cuisine.

Version 2

There is another possible story relating to the traditional Chinese (not just Sichuanese) custom. When family visit graves to pray to their relatives, one of the offering is boiled pork. This pork is taken home later to eat as a blessing or they are too poor to waste any good meat. The meat is bland, so Sichuanese used their local flavourings to make it tasty by slicing the pork, then frying with chilli bean sauce, sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce and other ingredients. It has then become a popular family recipe, and every family may have their own preferred recipe.

( http://sunflower-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/05/twice-cooked-pork.html )

原料： （四至六人份）

• 五花肉 675 克

• 中等大小洋蔥 1 個（切細絲）

• 紅椒 1 隻（切成 1 英寸見方的小塊）

• 青椒 1 隻（切成 1 英寸見方的小塊）

• 乾辣椒 2 隻（去籽，切絲）

• 蔥 2 棵（切成 2 英寸長的蔥段）

• 植物油 4 湯匙

調味汁：

• 老抽 2 ½ 湯匙

• 生抽 1 ½ 湯匙

• 海鮮醬 1 ½ 湯匙

• 雞湯 2 湯匙

• 番茄醬 1 ½ 湯匙

• 辣椒醬 1 ½ 湯匙

• 糖 1 ½ 湯匙

菜譜提供者

畢金寶先生

做法：

• 五花肉放進大的湯鍋裡，加水蓋過肉。煮開後煨 30 分鐘。

• 關火後，讓肉在水里自然冷卻30 分鐘，撈出瀝乾。

• 將肉切成 1 英寸見方的肉片。

• 在煎鍋或鑊裡放油燒熱，加洋蔥。炒 1 分鐘後放肉片。

• 猛火炒3 分鐘後，加紅椒、青椒、乾辣椒和蔥。

• 續炒 1 分鐘，再放調味料。

• 煮至沸騰。趁熱享用。

故事：

四川民間的特色菜餚回鍋肉，也稱熬鍋肉，回鍋肉的歷史悠久，食者甚眾，遂成為別具風味的四川經典名菜。俗話說 “入蜀不吃回鍋肉，等於沒有到四川” 。四川家家戶戶都能做回鍋肉，到四川回鍋肉不能不吃，久居外鄉的四川人，回川探親訪友，首先想到要吃的就是回鍋肉。現在回鍋肉的品類已經很多了，連山回鍋肉、幹豇豆回鍋肉、紅椒回鍋肉、蕨菜回鍋肉等等。其口感油而不膩，不會讓人吃了覺得很難受。最地道的吃法有兩種，一種是下白乾飯，這樣吃很有滿足感；另一種是把直徑 5 厘米的白面小鍋盔中間劃開，把炒好的肉夾進去吃，這種有吃地道成都小吃的感覺。

關於回鍋肉的起源有這樣的傳說。傳說這道菜是從前四川人初一、十五打牙祭（改善生活）的當家菜。當時做法多是先白煮，再爆炒。清末時成都有位姓凌的翰林，因宦途失意退隱家居，潛心研究烹飪。他將原煮後炒的回鍋肉改為先將豬肉去腥味，以隔水容器密封的方法蒸熟後再煎炒成菜。因為久蒸至熟，減少了可溶性蛋白質的損失，保持了肉質的濃郁鮮香，原味不失，色澤紅亮。自此，名噪錦城的久蒸回鍋肉便流傳開來。家常做法還是以先煮後炒居多。

（ http://www.meiweizhongguo.com/caipu/chuancai/627.shtml ）