Juicy Hoikoro (Twice Cooked Pork)

Hikoro（ホイコーロー、回鍋肉）

😋What kind of dish is Juicy Hoikoro (Twice Cooked Pork) ??

Hoikoro (twice cooked pork) is a signature Sichuan dish.

Many of the ingredients used in the authentic Sichuan Twice Cooked Pork are not very familiar in Japan, and Twice Cooked Pork has evolved and changed to suit Japanese food culture.

Therefore, the seasoning and ingredients of authentic Sichuan Twice Cooked Pork are very different from those of Japanese Twice Cooked Pork.

For Chinese people who are eating Japanese “Hoikoro” for the first time, it will probably come as a fresh surprise.

Although it differs in appearance and flavor from the original, Japanese-style Twice Cooked Pork has now become one of Japan’s most beloved Chinese dishes and is served in every Chinese restaurant.

🍖The Difference Between Sichuan-Style Twice-Cooked Pork and Japanese-Style Twice-Cooked Pork

Characteristics	Sichuan style	Japanese style
Main Vegetable	Garlic leaves (蒜苗）	cabbage, bell peppers
Seasonings	Doubanjiang It has a sharp, spicy flavor.	Tianmianjiang It has a rich, sweet flavor.
Meat preparation	The meat is boiled and then sliced ​​(twice cooked).	Thinly sliced ​​meat is often stir-fried as is.
Flavor accents	Tianmianjiang , Sichuan peppercorns, douchi (fermented black beans), etc.	Sugar and soy sauce are often added to adjust the flavor.

🍽️ The Origin of the Dish’s Name and Authentic Sichuan Recipe

The literal translation of the Chinese characters for “Twice Cooked Pork” is “Returning the Meat to the Pot.

The name of this dish comes from the ancient Chinese custom of using boiled pork as an offering during festivals, followed by thinly slicing the meat and returning it to the pot with vegetables for stir-frying, in order to ensure that no waste is wasted.

🍚 The True Nature of Sweet flour sauce (Tianmian sauce) and Substitutes

Tianmian sauce, the core flavor of stir-fried pork, is originally a condiment made by fermenting wheat flour with koji. While it is often referred to as “sweet miso,” this is technically a misleading term, as its original production method differs from that of miso, which is primarily made from soybeans. In recent years, soybean-based sweet miso has also been produced.

In Japan, sweet miso is rarely used in dishes other than hoikoro, so some people may be hesitant to purchase it.

However, if you don’t have this seasoning, you can substitute it with common ingredients you have at home.

I asked a chef at a Chinese restaurant, and he told me that if you don’t have sweet bean sauce, you can use a mixture of red miso and sugar instead. When I tried it, I was surprised to find that it recreated a flavor that was surprisingly close to sweet bean sauce.

The optimal ratio for recreating 3 tablespoons (about 45g) of sweet bean sauce is 2 tablespoons of red miso to 2 tablespoons of sugar.

🌶️ Key Differences: Doubanjiang, Tianmian sauce, and Gochujang

These three fermented seasonings are indispensable in East Asian cuisine, yet they each have distinct characteristics.

Name	Ingredient	Characteristics
Doubanjiang (China)	Broad Beans (Fava Beans)	A fermented seasoning. Originally made without chili peppers, but chili addition is now the norm. Develops a good aroma when heated.
Tianmianjiang Tianmian sauce (China)	Wheat Flour Koji	A sweet, paste-like seasoning (often called sweet flour paste). Flavored with sugar and spices.
Gochujang (South Korea)	Glutinous Rice Koji	A fermented seasoning characterized by the stickiness of glutinous rice. Possesses both spiciness and sweetness.

📉NUTRITION FACTS : Juicy Hoikoro (Twice Cooked Pork)

• 1122 Calories
• Protein 38.4 g
• Total Fat 89.4 g
• Total Carbohydrates 52.9 g
• Sodium 5.0 g

📝INGREDIENTS : Juicy Hoikoro (Twice Cooked Pork) 4 SERVINGS

• Pork belly　(3cm wide x 5cm long x 3mm thick)　 200g　
  • Flour 10g
• Cabbage (1/4 piece)　350g
• Green pepper (4 pieces)　130g
• Sesame oil 5g
• Garlic 8g
• Ginger 8g
• Bean sauce (豆板醤） 6g
• ☆Sweet flour sauce（Tianmian sauce,甜麺醤）40g
• ☆Soy sauce 10g
• ☆Sake 20g

✨How to make Juicy Hoikoro (Twice Cooked Pork)

🔪 Preparation

1. Cut the cabbage into 5 cm cubes.
2. Remove the stem and seeds from the bell pepper and cut it into quarters.
3. Peel and finely chop the garlic and ginger.
4. Lightly dust both sides of the pork belly with flour.

🍳 Cooking Process

1. Heat sesame oil in a frying pan and fry the pork belly. Once nicely browned, remove it and set it aside on a plate.
2. In the same pan, stir-fry the chopped garlic, ginger, and chili bean paste (Doubanjiang) until fragrant.
3. Add the cabbage.
4. When the cabbage has softened, add the bell peppers. Stir-fry the bell peppers briefly as they tend to lose their color quickly.
5. Return the fried pork belly to the frying pan. Mix well.

Tip:📝 Stir-frying the cabbage first, separately from the pork, prevents the pork from becoming soggy due to the moisture released by the cabbage.

🥣 Seasoning and Finishing

1. Add the sweet flour sauce (Tianmian sauce).
2. Sprinkle sake (Japanese rice wine) and mix to dissolve the Tianmian sauce and coat the ingredients.
3. Add soy sauce and mix well.
4. Stir-fry everything over high heat until the seasoning is evenly distributed and the sauce thickens slightly.

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