Twice-Cooked Pork!

Zhou Yan’s eyes lit up.

Twice-Cooked Pork was undoubtedly a hallmark of Sichuan Cuisine. It was also the quintessential Sichuanese home-style dish, earning it the title of "the number one dish in Sichuan Cuisine."

The dish had an immense presence in Sichuan restaurants, often mentioned alongside Mapo Tofu and Kung Pao Chicken as the "Three Greats of Sichuan Cuisine."

He had previously produced a video series on the national intangible cultural heritage of Sichuan Cuisine Cooking techniques. Twice-Cooked Pork was featured, its prestigious status in the culinary world unquestionable.

In Sichuan, almost every family knew how to make it, and everyone loved to eat it.

Boiled Cabbage was famous, but Zhou Yan had never seen it in a roadside Sichuan restaurant, nor had he ever seen anyone make it at home. It was a dish reserved for high-end banquets.

In their family, Mrs. Zhao had always held a firm grip on the privilege of cooking Twice-Cooked Pork.

There was nothing to be done about it; her skill was what decided it.

However, starting today, that throne was about to welcome its new king—Zhou Yan!

More than one customer at the restaurant had asked why he didn’t serve Twice-Cooked Pork, and his answer had always been hesitant and vague.

After all, for someone running a Sichuan restaurant, how embarrassing would it be to admit you couldn’t make Twice-Cooked Pork?

Starting tomorrow, he could stand tall and tell everyone that he, too, could make Twice-Cooked Pork!

Zhou Yan absolutely loved Twice-Cooked Pork!

Twice-Cooked Pork with garlic scapes was the traditional version. The variations, like Twice-Cooked Pork with preserved vegetables, had their own unique flavor, while the version with green peppers was a god-tier dish to eat with rice.

’I wonder which version this recipe is for, or if it’s a whole gift package?’

"You guys rest for a bit. I’m going out to buy a piece of ’second-cut’ pork. We’ll switch things up for lunch today and celebrate with some Twice-Cooked Pork!" Zhou Yan placed his enamel mug on the counter, untied his apron, and pushed his bicycle out the door.

"Twice-Cooked Pork sounds great! It’s been a while since I’ve had it." Zhou Jie smacked his lips, his mouth already watering at the thought. He craved that savory, meaty flavor, which was a world away from the beef offal they ate every day.

He was the family’s reigning god of Twice-Cooked Pork, but being so busy with the stall every day, he rarely had the time to cook a meal of it.

"Looks like I’ll have to get in the kitchen this afternoon," Mrs. Zhao said with a smile.

Zhou Yan pushed his bicycle to the river embankment. He didn’t hop on right away, instead opening the recipe in his mind first.

A torrent of information flooded his mind. A minute later, his gaze cleared.

[Twice-Cooked Pork with Garlic Scapes: The original ancestor of Twice-Cooked Pork!]

Everything was beamed into his head: from the selection of ingredients and a detailed explanation of the Knife Skills needed to create the characteristic "lamp-socket" curl, to the precise mastery of Fire Control and the perfect handling of seasoning.

This time, Zhou Yan saw some different images.

An old master with white hair and a white beard seemed to be tirelessly teaching him how to cook. Meanwhile, the ’him’ inside his mind was as if locked in a small, dark room, stuck in an infinite loop of starting, failing, and starting over.

Zhou Yan shook his head, trying to get the voice that shouted, "Chef God, I’ve done it!" out of his mind.

’It really is the most basic version, Twice-Cooked Pork with garlic scapes.’ Just thinking about how he was going to make the dish in a little while made him swallow hard.

’So fragrant!’

Zhou Yan rode his bike around, asking every Knife Maker’s stall in Suji Town. Just when he was about to give up, he finally found a piece of "second-cut" pork.

To make proper Twice-Cooked Pork, you had to use "second-cut" pork.

The so-called "second-cut" pork was the piece of meat near the hind leg, taken after the tail section was removed. It got its name from being the "second cut."

"You’re a lucky kid. I was saving this piece of second-cut for my in-law, but he went to Jiazhou today, so I put it back out. Two yuan a jin," the old Knife Maker said with a smile.

[A piece of high-quality, free-range "second-cut" pork]

"Deal. I’ll take it." Zhou Yan didn’t haggle and bought it on the spot.

The quality of this piece of second-cut was truly excellent.

It had a forty-sixty fat-to-lean ratio, and it was genuine free-range pork from a pig that had been raised for at least a year before slaughter.

Why was the pork from the memories of those born in the 80s and 90s so delicious?

It wasn’t just childhood nostalgia.

Pigs in this era ate pigweed and chaff and were raised for a full year before slaughter. They were completely different from the fast-growing pigs that were quickly fattened on commercial feed.

The texture and flavor of the meat were distinctly different.

On the scale, it weighed one jin and two liang, costing two yuan and forty cents.

"Sir, did you raise this pig yourself?" Zhou Yan asked casually as he handed over the money.

"A Knife Maker slaughters pigs every day. How could my family have that many pigs to slaughter? They’re all from farmers in the surrounding villages," the old man said with a laugh as he counted the money. "They all eat pigweed, so the meat is very fragrant."

"I run the restaurant at the entrance of the textile factory. If I were to buy five jin of second-cut pork from you every day, how much of a discount could you give me per jin?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Five jin a day?" The old man’s hands paused. He looked at Zhou Yan and said, "Then your business must not be that hot."

Zhou Yan: "..."

The old man was quite the Yin-Yang Master himself.

"One-ninety. This second-cut is so good, I never have trouble selling it. But if you’re taking a steady amount every day, I can knock off ten cents for you," the old man said.

"One-eighty a jin. In a while, I might even need to buy pork knuckles, ribs, and kidneys from you," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "Go ahead and ask around. The Zhou Yan Restaurant is the restaurant with the best reputation and best business around the textile factory right now."

"One-eighty..." The old man mulled it over for a moment, then nodded. "Deal. What’s your name, then?"

"Zhou Yan."

"My name is Xu the Second. I’ll save the meat for you tomorrow. Same place, you can come pick it up."

"I’ll only take it if the pork is good quality, like this piece today," Zhou Yan reminded him, then headed back with the meat.

Zhang the Third was a reliable pork supplier, but a Knife Maker these days usually only sold one side of pork at a time, which would only yield about five or six jin of second-cut pork.

One order of Twice-Cooked Pork required half a jin of second-cut. Even if Zhang the Third saved all his second-cut pork for him every day, it would only be enough for eleven or twelve servings.

Zhou Yan planned to price the Twice-Cooked Pork at one-sixty, the same as the braised pork ribs, because their costs were similar. For a dish over one yuan, earning fifty cents per serving was very conscientious of him.

But Twice-Cooked Pork was different from braised pork ribs. It was a bestseller. In this era, who didn’t love that feeling of a mouthful of rich, fatty goodness with every bite?

Even at one-sixty per serving, Zhou Yan predicted it would sell well.

That’s why he had pre-ordered five jin of second-cut from Xu the Second, on top of the five jin he had already pre-ordered from Zhang the Third. Tomorrow, he would prepare twenty servings of Twice-Cooked Pork and go all out.

If his partnership with Xu the Second went well, it would mean adding another key pork supplier. That way, if Zhang the Third didn’t slaughter a pig on a given day, he wouldn’t be left scrambling to find a replacement.

On the way, Zhou Yan bought a bunch of green garlic scapes. The scapes were cheap—twelve cents a jin, and you could get a whole bunch for ten cents, enough to make several servings of Twice-Cooked Pork.

When he passed the supply and marketing cooperative, he went in and bought a jar of sweet bean sauce. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Buying one piece of meat took you half an hour? Did you go all the way to Jiazhou to get it?" Zhou Jie joked as Zhou Yan pushed his bicycle into the restaurant.

"I had to ask every Knife Maker in Suji to find this piece of second-cut. It’s fantastic," Zhou Yan said, parking his bike. He took the piece of meat hanging from the handlebars and showed it off proudly.

"If you can’t find second-cut, just use pork belly. It’s the same thing, isn’t it?" Zhou Jie said, a little confused.

"Exactly. Pork belly is delicious when you stir-fry it, too," Mrs. Zhao chimed in, reaching for the meat in Zhou Yan’s hand. "I’ll cook it. This is my signature dish."

"My skills are pretty good, too. How about you all try my Twice-Cooked Pork today?" Zhou Jie said, eager to give it a shot.

"Using pork belly isn’t authentic at all. You guys are getting it wrong from the very first step—choosing the meat." Zhou Yan pulled the pork back and walked toward the kitchen with a smile. "Today, I’ll be the one to make this Twice-Cooked Pork for you. I’ll let you taste what real, authentic Twice-Cooked Pork with garlic scapes is all about."