Chili Mustard Pickle Pork Belly, or 辣椒酸菜五花肉, is a home-style dish combining the fire of Chili Bean Paste with the tang of Pickled Mustard.

Chili Mustard Pickle Pork has its roots in the cuisine of China’s Sichuan Province and is very much a home-style (家常) dish. It combines sliced Pork Belly, cooked to a golden crispiness, with tangy Pickled Mustard Greens and the classic, umami-rich and fiery Sichuan Chili Bean Paste. It is very easy to prepare and makes for a delicious and hearty meal served over rice or noodles.

Ingredient Notes for 辣椒酸菜五花肉

The Chili Bean Paste called for is specifically the Sichuan Chili Bean Paste known as 辣豆瓣酱 (là dòubànjiàng). There are many varieties available but you can also substitute with almost any chili paste. The Lee Kum Kee™ Brand Spicy Bean Sauce would work very well, or you could go an even simpler route and just use a straight Sambal Oelek.

As for the Mustard Pickle, this recipe uses a commercially made Thai-Style Pickled Mustard product, many brands of which are fairly easy to source, either in Asian groceries, or on-line. You can also use almost any sort of pickled green vegetable, with the Sichuan Preserved Vegetable Zha Cai being an interesting possible substitution.

How to make Chili Mustard Pickle Pork Belly

For this dish, you first fry the pork belly slices at a moderately high temperature until nicely golden and a little crisp. If using raw pork belly, you may need to add just a little cooking oil to get things started, but if using pre-cooked this won’t be necessary. Once the slices are done, drain off any excess fat, leaving about over a tablespoon or so.

Scoot the cooked pork slices over to the side of the pan and add the chili bean paste, sugar and the vinegar. Stir the sauce ingredients to blend them and, then as the vinegar evaporates out, stir the pork pieces back into the center to glaze the pieces. Finally, add the mustard pickle, stir-fry until well-heated through and serve immediately.

That’s it!

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