Twice-Cooked Pork Belly

1. 1Put the pork belly in a small pan with the halved spring onions, ginger and Shaoxing wine, cover with cold water and bring to a bare simmer. Cook for 25 minutes, until a skewer slides into the thickest part with only slight resistance. It should be cooked through but nowhere near falling apart.
2. 2Lift the pork out and let it cool completely, then chill for at least an hour. This is not optional: warm belly tears and squashes under the knife, and the whole dish depends on clean, thin slices.
3. 3Slice the cold belly as thinly as you can manage, 2–3 mm, keeping the skin, fat and meat together in each piece.
4. 4Heat a wok or heavy frying pan over a high heat with the oil. Lay the slices out in one layer and leave them alone for a minute, then stir-fry for 3–4 minutes until the fat turns translucent and the edges curl up into little cups. That curl is the visual cue the fat has rendered properly.
5. 5Push the pork to one side. Add the chilli bean paste to the rendered fat in the clear part of the pan and fry it for 30 seconds, until the oil turns a deep red and smells toasted rather than raw. This step is the difference between a sauce that tastes cooked and one that tastes of the jar.
6. 6Add the black beans, garlic and sugar and stir everything together. Splash in the soy sauce.
7. 7Tip in the leeks and the sliced spring onions and toss over the highest heat for 1–2 minutes. They want to soften at the edges and stay squeaky in the middle. Serve at once, with plain rice.

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