Serves 2–4

Pork is cooked twice in this simple but popular Szechwan dish. Serve on a bed of steamed rice or noodles.

½ pound boneless pork

½ red bell pepper

½ green bell pepper

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 slices ginger, chopped

3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying

1 teaspoon hot bean paste

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

• Boil the pork in water for 20–25 minutes. Remove and cool. Cut into thin strips.

• Blanch the peppers by plunging briefly into boiling water. Cut into thin slices.

• Add 3 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the ginger, garlic, and hot bean paste with garlic. Stir-fry briefly until the garlic and ginger are aromatic. Add the peppers and stir-fry. Mix in the dark soy sauce and sugar. Add the pork. Combine all the ingredients thoroughly and stir-fry for about 1 more minute. Serve hot.

Pork — Not the “Other White Meat”

Pork may be the “other white meat” in the West, but in China the words pork and meat are virtually synonymous. When it comes to beef, cows and oxen have traditionally been valued more as work animals than as the main source of protein at the dinner table. By contrast, economical pigs are cheaper to feed, requiring less grazing space. While beef is now widely enjoyed in northern China, it is still not uncommon for southern Chinese families to rely primarily on pork as their main source of meat.