Twice Cooked Pork

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Twice Cooked Pork (回鍋肉, pinyin: Húi Gūo Ròu; literally "meat that has been returned to the wok"; also called Double Cooked Pork), along with Mapo Dofu (麻婆豆腐), Hot Pot (火锅 火鍋) and Kung Pao chicken (宫保鸡丁 官保雞丁), is probably the best-known Sichuan style Chinese dish. The process of cooking Twice Cooked Pork involves boiling pork rib steak chunks in hot water with slices of ginger and salt first, then after being cut into thin slices, the pork is returned to a wok and shallow fried in hot oil. The most common vegetables to accompany the pork in Twice-Cooked Pork are cabbage and peppers.

[edit] History

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.