1984: Starting from a bankrupt Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 60 Garlic Sprout Twice-Cooked Pork

Twice-cooked pork!
Zhou Yan's eyes lit up.

Twice-cooked pork is definitely a representative of Sichuan cuisine and a representative of Sichuan home-style dishes, and is known as the "number one dish of Sichuan cuisine".

This dish has a very strong presence in Sichuan restaurants, and is known as one of the three heroes of Sichuan cuisine, along with Mapo Tofu and Kung Pao Chicken.

He previously created a series of videos on Sichuan cuisine cooking techniques, which are considered national intangible cultural heritage, and twice-cooked pork was among them, so his status in the industry is beyond doubt.

In Sichuan, almost every household knows how to make it, and everyone loves to eat it.

Boiled cabbage in clear broth is famous, but Zhou Yan had never seen this dish in roadside Sichuan restaurants, nor had he seen anyone serve it; it was a high-end banquet dish.

In their family, Aunt Zhao always firmly controlled the priority of cooking twice-cooked pork.

There's nothing we can do about it; it's determined by ability.

However, starting today, this throne will soon welcome its new king—Zhou Yan!
More than one customer who comes to the restaurant has asked why they don't serve twice-cooked pork, and his answer is always evasive.

After all, how embarrassing would it be for someone who runs a Sichuan restaurant to say they can't cook twice-cooked pork?
Starting tomorrow, he can stand tall and tell everyone that he can also cook twice-cooked pork!

Zhou Yan loves twice-cooked pork so much!
Twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts is a traditional dish, while twice-cooked pork with salted vegetables has a unique flavor, and twice-cooked pork with green peppers is a perfect dish to eat with rice.

I wonder which dish this recipe is, or if it's part of a gift set?

"You guys take a break first. I'll go buy a piece of pork belly. Let's have a different kind of food for lunch today and celebrate with twice-cooked pork!" Zhou Yan put the enamel mug on the counter, took off his apron, and pushed his bicycle out the door.

"Twice-cooked pork is so good! It's been so long since I've had it." Zhou Jie smacked his lips, his mouth watering as he spoke, craving that savory meaty flavor. It was so different from the beef offal he ate every day.

He is the god in charge of making twice-cooked pork in their family, but he is too busy running his stall every day and rarely has time to cook twice-cooked pork.

"Looks like I'll have to cook this afternoon," Aunt Zhao said with a smile.

Zhou Yan pushed his bicycle to the riverbank, but instead of getting on, he first mentally opened the recipe.

A surge of information flooded his mind, and a minute later, his vision cleared.

[Garlic sprouts and twice-cooked pork: The ancestor of twice-cooked pork!]

From the selection of ingredients to the detailed knife skills required to stir-fry the ingredients into a lamp-shaped trough, to the precise control of heat and the perfect mastery of seasoning, everything entered his mind.

This time, Zhou Yan saw some different scenes.

An old master chef with white hair and beard seemed to be patiently teaching him how to cook, while the "him" in his mind was like someone locked in a small, dark room, endlessly starting—failing—starting again.

Zhou Yan shook his head and said, "Chef, I've succeeded!"

It drifted out of my mind.

As expected, it was the most basic twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts. Just thinking about how to make this dish made his mouth water.

Fragrant!

Zhou Yan rode his bicycle to ask at every knife-making stall in Suji Town, and was almost about to give up when he finally found a piece of second-cut meat.

To make twice-cooked pork, you must use pork belly cut in half.

The so-called "second cut meat" refers to the piece of meat near the hind leg after the tail has been cut off, hence the name "second cut."

"You're lucky, kid. This piece of pork was originally reserved for my in-laws, but they went to Jiaozhou today, so it's back on the market now. It's two yuan a pound," the butcher said with a smile.

[A piece of high-quality local pork belly (second cut)]

"Okay, I'll take it." Zhou Yan didn't haggle and bought it directly.

This piece of pork belly is of really good quality.

It's 40% fat and 60% lean, and it's genuine local pork, raised for at least a year before slaughter. Why is pork so delicious in the memories of those born in the 80s and 90s?

This is more than just childhood nostalgia.

Pigs in those days ate pig feed and bran, and had to be raised for a full year before being sold. They were not the same as fast-growing pigs that were fed pig feed to fatten them up quickly.

The texture and taste of the meat are very distinct.

It weighed one jin and two liang, and cost two yuan and forty cents.

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

"The butcher slaughters pigs every day, but he doesn't have that many pigs to slaughter at home. They're all pigs raised by farmers in the surrounding villages," the old man said with a smile as he counted the money. "They all eat pig feed, so the meat is very fragrant."

"I run a restaurant near the textile factory. If I buy five catties of pork belly from you every day, how much discount can you give me per catty?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Five catties a day?" The old man paused, looked at him and said, "Then your business won't be doing well."

Zhou Yan: "..."

The old man is a seasoned yin-yang master.

"One dollar and ninety cents, such good cuts of pork, I never have to worry about selling them every day, but if you want a consistent supply every day, I'll give you a discount of one cent," the old man said.

"It's 1.8 yuan per jin. I might need to buy pork knuckles, ribs, and kidneys from you again in a while." Zhou Yan said with a smile, "Go and ask around. Zhou Erwa Restaurant is now the restaurant with the best reputation and the best business around the textile factory."

"One dollar and eighty cents..." The old man pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, so what's your name?"

"Zhou Yan".

"My name is Xu Lao Er. I'll save the meat for you tomorrow. It'll still be here. Come and get it."

"I only buy pork if it's good quality, like this piece today is about right," Zhou Yan instructed, before taking the meat back.

Zhang Laosan is a reliable pork supplier, but nowadays butchers usually only sell one side of pork, and two cuts of meat can only yield about five or six jin (2.5-3 catties).

A serving of twice-cooked pork requires half a pound of pork belly. Even if Zhang Laosan saved pork belly for him every day, it would only be enough for eleven or twelve servings.

Zhou Yan plans to price the twice-cooked pork at 1.6 yuan, the same price as the braised pork ribs, because their costs are similar. If it exceeds 1 yuan, he will only make 0.5 yuan per serving, which is very conscientious.

But twice-cooked pork is different from braised pork ribs. It's a best-selling dish. In this day and age, who doesn't like the feeling of your mouth being full of oil after taking a bite?
Even if it's only 1.6 yuan per serving, Zhou Yan expects it to sell well.

So he ordered five jin of pork belly from Xu Lao Er, and had previously ordered five jin from Zhang Lao San. He planned to prepare twenty portions of twice-cooked pork tomorrow and go all out.

If the cooperation with Xu Lao Er goes well, it's like adding a key pork supplier. If Zhang Lao San isn't slaughtering pigs, there won't be a rush to find a replacement.

On the way, Zhou Yan bought a bunch of green garlic sprouts. The price of garlic sprouts was cheap, only 12 cents a pound. A bunch cost only 10 cents, enough to stir-fry several servings of twice-cooked pork.

When I passed by the supply and marketing cooperative, I went in and bought a jar of sweet bean sauce.

"Did you run half an hour to Jiaozhou to buy a piece of meat?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile as he pushed his bicycle into the restaurant.

"I had to ask all the butchers in Suji before I could find this piece of second-grade pork. It's really good." Zhou Yan parked the car, took the piece of meat off the handlebars, and showed it off with some pride.

"If you don't have spare cuts of pork, just use pork belly. It's the same thing." Zhou Jie said, somewhat puzzled.

“That’s right, pork belly is so fragrant when it’s stir-fried.” Aunt Zhao chimed in, reaching out to take the meat from Zhou Yan’s hand. “I’ll stir-fry it; it’s one of my specialties.”

“My skills are pretty good too. How about I let you try my twice-cooked pork today?” Zhou Jie said eagerly.

“Using pork belly is not authentic at all. You made a mistake from the very beginning of choosing the meat.” Zhou Yan put the meat back and walked towards the kitchen with a smile: “Today, I will make this twice-cooked pork for you so that you can taste what authentic garlic sprout twice-cooked pork is like.”

(End of this chapter)