Bashu Land·Secret Code of Twice-cooked Pork
Among the many dishes that are as bright as a galaxy in Sichuan cuisine, twice-cooked pork is undoubtedly the one that is closest to the taste of public life, but it is also the dazzling pearl that can best test the chef's cooking skills.
Recently, the "failed twice-cooked pork" that has been hotly discussed on the Internet, in fact, most people have not fully understood this "secret of success" passed down from generation to generation in Chengdu's time-honored restaurants that claim to have ancient traditions.
In fact, twice-cooked pork is not only a dish, but also a symbol of taste in the family meals of Sichuan people, which contains the unique dietary wisdom of Bazi in western Sichuan.
The soul imprint of Pixian Douban·Seasoning
Authentic twice-cooked pork and Pixian Doubanjiang are the unshakable foundation.
This watercress is produced in Pidu District. It is placed in a pottery vat and exposed to sun and night dew for a whole year. Only in this way can it develop the mellow sauce aroma and bright red color.
But those who are truly experts will add Yongchuan tempeh from Zizhong to the original base. The particles of this tempeh are black and shiny, and the taste is salty with a sweet aftertaste. It forms a clever balance with the strong taste of bean paste.
More importantly, there is a small spoonful of sweet noodle sauce, which comes from the local sauce garden in Chengdu. It is a secret condiment that can cover the meat slices with an amber halo. The first thing you feel when you enter the mouth is the aroma of the sauce, followed by a long-term aftertaste of sweetness, and the sense of layering is fully enhanced in an instant.
The order of the seasonings is an iron rule. You must first stir-fry the bean paste in rapeseed oil over low heat until the oil turns red in color and the aroma explodes. Only then can you put down the black bean paste and sweet bean paste. Once the order is confused, all your efforts will be wasted and everything will be lost.
The importance of sitting on the buttocks with two swords and the center of the flesh
Everyone knows that the soul of twice-cooked pork lies in the second-cut pork .
This is a part well-known to farmers around Chengdu. It refers to the second cut of meat cut by the butcher from the buttocks of the pig. It shows a state of fat and thin connected, without any excess.
The meticulous and experienced chefs in the specific Shuangliu area will even go so far as to specifically select the piece of meat from pigs fed with that kind of grain. When it is cooked to a medium-rare level, the skin of the meat can be easily pierced with chopsticks and no blood or water seeps out. Only at this level of cooking is the standard reached.
Cutting meat is definitely a delicate job that shows true skill. The meat must be cut into pieces about two millimeters thick. Once it is cut too thick, the fat will be difficult to remove. If it is cut too thin, the meat will be easily broken and unable to form a complete shape.
If you want to temper the legendary "lamp nest" in a hot pot that can curl the meat slices into a bowl shape when heated, and is shaped like an old tung oil lamp, which serves as an authentic visual mark of twice-cooked pork, it must be evenly thin and thick.
Garlic sprouts are fragrant, a refreshing seasonal embellishment
In the winter fields of the Chengdu Plain , garlic seedlings produced in Wenjiang and Pixian counties are in season.
The slender and tall garlic sprouts have broad leaves, sufficient water, and a spicy and fresh aroma.
They play an indispensable supporting role in twice-cooked pork.
When the meat slices are stir-fried until the oil comes out and becomes slightly charred and curled, immediately pour in the garlic sprouts cut into inch-sized pieces and stir-fry quickly over high heat to bring out the fragrant garlic aroma; finally, sprinkle in the green garlic sprout leaves. Those leaves will break off in an instant under the high temperature environment, but still maintain a crisp and tender taste, which forms a wonderful contrast with the burnt aroma of the meat slices.
This fragrance dissolves the heavy fat and makes the whole dish breathe. This is exactly the kind of "beauty of balance" that is pursued in the food culture of the Western Sichuan Plain.
Fire code·Transformation from fierce fire to gentle flame
In tradition, it belongs to the category of Zigong salt merchant cuisine and Chengdu Gongguan cuisine. For twice-cooked pork, heat has become a mysterious and mysterious knowledge.
Put the meat slices into the pot and stir-fry them over medium heat to allow the fat to seep out slowly. The meat slices will gradually curl up to form a nest shape, and the skin will show a slightly yellow color. At this time, you need to have sharp eyes and move quickly to remove the excess lard - this is called "spitting" in the old Chengdu dialect. Only when the oil is spit out cleanly can the meat slices be fat but not greasy.
Then turn to low heat, add some Hanyuan peppercorns, and then add a few sections of dried chili peppers to allow the sesame aroma to slowly dissipate in the warm oil without burning.
When the edges of the meat pieces begin to appear burnt, and the meat pieces exude a rich meat aroma, add the bean paste and other seasonings so that each piece of meat can be evenly coated with the bright red sauce.
This transition from fierce flames to gentle flames tests the person holding the spoon's keen perception of changes in ingredients.
Folk Wisdom·Extraordinary Ways to Home-cook Food
In Chongqing, and even in the entire Bashu region, every household makes slightly different twice-cooked pork.
Some families add a few slices of Yibin bean sprouts for freshness, while others prefer to use Deyang soy sauce for color.
This seemingly random change is exactly the essence of Sichuan cuisine: "one dish, one style, one hundred dishes, one hundred flavors".
A person who is truly a master of twice-cooked pork does not simply copy the taste in restaurants, but must be able to accurately understand the taste preferences of his family members.
If your family members like the fatter flavor, you might as well choose the fat and thin pork belly; if you prefer a dry flavor, stir-fry the meat slices for a longer time to make the surface slightly crispy.
This kind of flexible performance based on tradition is where the vitality of twice-cooked pork remains fresh and undiminished after hundreds of years.
It starts with material selection, followed by knife work. Then comes the seasoning sequence, followed by the heat transition. Each of these seemingly trivial details are all the taste codes that the ancestors of Bashu found out between the fireworks stoves.
The twice-cooked pork dish cooked with heart is not only a dish, but also a reflection of the inheritance and respect contained in Sichuan food culture. The aroma that spreads throughout the house is the flavor of hometown that can best soothe the hearts of ordinary people.
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