Sichuan Pork with Garlic Sauce (Suàn Ní Bái Ròu 蒜泥白肉)
Tender slices of gently boiled pork belly dressed with a bold Sichuan garlic sauce – garlicky, lightly sweet and pleasantly spicy.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
Pork
- 400 g pork belly about 14 oz, ideally skin on
- 1 piece ginger sliced
- 2 scallions cut into large pieces
- pinch of salt to taste
Sauce
- 6 cloves garlic finely chopped or mashed to a paste
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar to taste
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1-2 tbsp Sichuan chili oil to taste
- pinch of salt and pepper
Garnish
- 1 scallion thinly sliced
- 1 cucumber sliced (optional)
Instructions
Pork
- Put the pork belly in a pot with enough water to cover it completely. Add the ginger, scallions and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 30–40 minutes, until the meat is tender but still firm enough to slice.
Sauce
- Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a bowl, combine the garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, chili oil, salt and pepper. Stir until the sugar dissolves and everything is well combined.
Assemble
- Lift the cooked pork out of the broth and let it cool slightly. Then slice it very thinly – the thinner, the better.
- Arrange the pork slices on a plate, spoon the garlic sauce over them and garnish with scallions and cucumber slices.
Serve
- This dish is traditionally served as an appetizer, but it also works as part of a main meal with rice and other Sichuan dishes. Serve at room temperature, which brings out the layers of flavor in the sauce and the meat.
Notes
If you'd like a less intense garlic flavor, lightly toast the garlic in a pan first to mellow it.
The pork is easiest to slice thinly once it has cooled down; chilling it briefly in the fridge helps.