Twice-Cooked Pork

Photo: flickr user avlxyz

Ingredients

1 pound boneless pork butt

8 ounces chicken broth

2 tablespoons cooking oil

8 smalls dried red chillies

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

3 spring onions cut 1" lengths

8 ounces napa cabbage cut bite-size

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cornflour dissolved in

1 tablespoon water

Preparation

In a pan, combine the pork and chicken broth. Bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low; cover and simmer until tender, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the pork from the pan and let cool; reserve the broth. Cut the pork into thin slices.

Place a wok or wide frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the oil, swirling to coat the sides. Add the chiles and garlic; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the pork and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the onions and cabbage; stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Add the reserved broth, hoisin sauce, dark and light soy sauces, and salt. Cook until the cabbage is tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the cornflour solution and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens.

This recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.

Comments: "Twice-cooked" refers to the two-step cooking process to create this dish. It does not mean that you will only want to cook this dish twice. Chances are, your guests will be asking for encores.

Excess Cabbage: When I was growing up, cabbage was a regular guest of my family's dining table. In China, in addition to regular cabbage, we also grow napa cabbage. Both of these kinds have sweet, cream-colored stalks, and they are great in soup and bruising dishes.