Vol. XVI · Moist Heat Plate 10 of 11combination methods, sear then braise, steam then fry, simmer then fry, crispy pork belly, 香酥鸭, twice-cooked pork, 回锅肉, two-stageHT

Combination Methods.

Pork belly fried from raw is tough and greasy; simmered first and fried after, its skin crackles and its fat melts. Two methods, each doing one job.

Moist heat is good at tenderising and cooking through evenly; dry heat is good at browning and crisping. Neither does both well, so many classic dishes do one after the other. Sear then braise (XVI.4): colour first, tenderness after. Steam or simmer then fry: Sichuan 香酥鸭 (duck marinated, steamed until tender, then deep-fried until crisp), 回锅肉 (pork belly simmered, sliced, then stir-fried — "returned to the pot"), Cantonese crispy pork belly, twice-cooked chips (XV.9). Poach then roast: a chicken poached to just done and roasted hot to crisp its skin. The reverse sear (XV.7) and sous vide with a sear (XVI.7) are the same idea.

The rule is to give each method the job it does best and no more: the moist stage until the inside is right, the dry stage only as long as the surface needs. Between them, dry the surface well (VIII.2) — a rest, a pat with paper, a night uncovered in the fridge — or the dry stage will spend its time boiling off water. The workshop simmers and then fries pork belly.

Below: 30 mm pork belly fried from raw at 170 °C for 12 minutes, against simmered for the time you choose, rested 20 minutes and fried at 180 °C for 4 minutes (thermal bench): collagen converted (course rate), crust and browning.

What you will learn
Workshop
Thermal bench: pork belly, 30 mm slab, from 5 °C. Fried only: oil at 170 °C for 12 minutes. Combined: simmering water (95 °C) for the time chosen, 20 minutes resting in air, oil at 180 °C for 4 minutes. Collagen conversion is the course gelatin rate averaged through the piece; crust and browning as elsewhere in the course.

One job per method

In this model pork belly simmered for 90 minutes, rested and fried for four has about 66 % of its collagen converted and is well browned; fried from raw for twelve minutes it is browner but only 6 % converted — chewy, and its fat barely rendered. The simmer did what frying cannot (tenderise), and the fry did what simmering cannot (crisp and brown).

Plan dishes this way. For 回锅肉, simmer the pork belly whole until a chopstick goes in, chill it, slice it thin and stir-fry with doubanjiang and garlic shoots. For crispy pork belly, simmer or steam, dry the skin overnight, then roast very hot or fry. For roast chicken with crisp skin and juicy meat, poach gently first or dry-brine overnight. For braised dishes, sear first. Between the stages, cool and dry: it is the surface water, not the method, that most often spoils the second stage.

At the stove

Make 回锅肉: simmer a piece of pork belly for 30–40 minutes, cool it, slice thinly and stir-fry until the slices curl like "lamp-cups" (灯盏窝), then add doubanjiang, fermented black beans and leek or garlic shoots.

回锅肉 means "returned-to-the-pot meat"; tradition says it began as a way to use the pork boiled for offerings to the ancestors on the first and fifteenth of each month in Sichuan households.

Terms

Combination method
Two cooking methods in sequence, each doing one job.
回锅肉
Twice-cooked pork: simmered, sliced and stir-fried.
香酥鸭
Sichuan duck steamed tender, then fried crisp.
Drying between stages
Removing surface water so the dry stage browns at once.
Give moist heat the job of tenderising and dry heat the job of browning; dry the surface between them.

Sources

  1. A teaching value chosen for the course: the right order of magnitude and shape, not a measurement of a particular food.