Twice Cooked Bacon

This my take on Twice Cooked Pork (回锅肉), another Sichuan classic, made with ingredients from my fridge. Thick slices of bacon and crunchy broccoli rabe stems with scallions, red oil and soy sauces.

Method

Boil the slices of bacon in water to remove some of the salt, scum, smokiness, and fat. Do this twice.

Remove bacon and let it cool. Cut up a lot of scallions and broccoli rabe stems into big pieces in the mean time. Make some red oil if you don't already have some. When cool enough, cut the bacon into big pieces.

Heat up a little oil and toss in the scallions and stir. Then, toss in the bacon and stir fry. 

Add broccoli rabe stems and stir. Toward the end, add soy sauces (light and dark) and red oil.

Notes 

In Sichuan, twice cooked pork involves boiling fatty pork in water and spices, then slicing it thin after it cools. Boiling tightens up the pork and removes some fat, as well as infusing the pork with flavor. This is why it's called twice cooked pork (not because it's leftovers or anything). The pork is then stir fried with vegetables like leeks, cabbage, and peppers. It tastes porky and earthy in good way.

I subbed pork belly slices with uncured bacon, leeks with scallions, and cabbage with broccoli rabe stems. Uncured bacon  approximates the pork belly slices pretty well and has its own flavor. The scallions are much milder than leeks, but they'll do. I didn't have cabbage, so I used its distant relative. Broccoli rabe has some bitterness that pairs well with the fatty bacon. It's not too watery and holds very well for the few minutes it's cooking. Looking back, this dish probably could have handled the entire bunch. Normally, I use green cabbage for this, but I didn't have any. No worries.