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Cured Pork Belly Stir-fry (Chao Larou, 炒腊肉)

Author: Kathy Yuan | The Mala Market | Inspiration & Ingredients for Sichuan Cooking

Ingredients

  • ¼ strip prepared larou (Chinese cured pork belly) approx. 150g, more to taste
  • ¼ package doufugan (pressed tofu, five spice flavor preferred)
  • 2 bell or poblano peppers
  • 1 inch thumb ginger, thinly sliced approx. ½ tablespoon
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 4 scallions, whites and light green parts only
  • 3 dried Chinese chilies (we used chaotianjiao), roughly chopped
  • drizzle Chinese vegetable oil (caiziyou preferred) as needed
  • ½ tablespoon red-oil douban (hongyou douban, Pixian Juan Cheng preferred)
  • ½ tablespoon 3-year aged douban (Pixian Yi Feng He Hao preferred)
  • 1 tablespoon sweet wheat paste (tianmianjiang)
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
  • ½ tablespoon Chinese light soy sauce (Zhongba preferred)

Instructions

Prep

  • Wash and soak larou for at least 1-2 hours before using. Parboil 15 minutes to draw out excess grease and saltiness, then slice thinly.
  • Halve the dougan by length, and then again by width. Slice into ⅛-thick strips about ½-inch wide, as shown. Wash and drain the peppers, cutting in similar proportion to the dougan. Thinly slice ginger and garlic. Chop scallions on the diagonal, about the length of the dougan. Roughly chop dried chilies, deseeding if less heat is desired.

Stir-fry

  • On high heat, stir-fry the sliced pork belly until fat is translucent and edges have browned. Remove the meat, leaving the rendered oil behind.
  • Briefly stir-fry the aromatics, using additional oil if necessary. Then, spoon in both doubans, frying 10-15 seconds until incorporated and fragrant. Add tianmianjiang, then Shaoxing wine, frying another 10 seconds. Add dougan, stir-frying briefly, then add the sliced chilies. Cook until tofu edges have browned and chilies soften to your liking.
  • Return the meat to the pan. Add the light soy sauce just before taking off the heat, tossing to coat. Transfer to plate and serve immediately.