Sichuan Boiled Pork Slices, Simplified (Shui Zhu Rou Pian)

The story

Shui zhu — "water boiled" — is Sichuan humor at its finest: the meat is barely poached, but everything around it is a chili-oil flood. The home version keeps the drama (velveted pork, crisp greens, red oil, numbing tingle) with pantry-level effort.

Ingredients (6 + pantry staples)

• Pork loin, sliced thin — 10 oz / 300 g
• Napa cabbage or bean sprouts — 1 lb / 450 g
• Doubanjiang (chili bean paste) — 2 tbsp
• Dried chilies + Sichuan peppercorns — 8 + 1 tsp
• Garlic — 3 cloves, minced
• Soy sauce — 1 tbsp

Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): cornstarch (1 tbsp), cooking oil (3 tbsp), scallions. Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.

Steps

1. Velvet the pork with soy + cornstarch; rest 10 minutes. Wilt the cabbage in a little oil; lay in the serving bowl.
2. Fry doubanjiang and garlic until the oil turns red; add 2 cups / 500 ml water and simmer 5 minutes.
3. Pork slices into the simmering broth, one at a time; poach 2 minutes, pour everything over the cabbage.
4. Pile raw garlic, chilies and peppercorns on top; pour 3 tbsp hot oil over them — the final sizzle. Scallions.

Swaps

Beef slices or fish fillets are the other classics (that is shui zhu yu). Milder: halve the doubanjiang, skip the raw-chili finale.