Sichuan-Style Eggplant Twice-Cooked Pork

Lightly crush the garlic scapes with the flat of a knife to release their aroma, then cut them diagonally into 2-3cm lengths.

Crush the garlic with the flat of a knife, then chop it coarsely. Break the dried red chili peppers in half and remove the seeds.

Angle the knife and trim off the eggplant's stem and calyx as if sharpening a pencil, then cut into rangiri chunks. For rangiri, cut with the knife at an angle, rotate the eggplant 90°, and cut again, repeating as you go.

Cut the block of pork belly into 0.5cm slices and season evenly all over with salt and pepper.

Combine the tianmianjiang, soy sauce, cooking sake, mirin, Sichuan pepper, and chili oil, mixing well until no lumps of tianmianjiang remain, to make the sauce mixture.

Add vegetable oil to a frying pan and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the pork belly and sear one side until golden brown.

Once browned, flip the pork and cook the other side over medium heat for about 30 seconds, then remove it from the pan.

Leaving the rendered pork fat in the pan, lower the heat to very low and add the minced garlic, doubanjiang, and dried red chili peppers. Stir-fry slowly for about 2 minutes to draw out the aroma and heat.

Switch to medium heat and add the eggplant and garlic scapes, first coating them thoroughly in the oil before stir-frying.

Once the eggplant is cooked through, return the reserved pork belly to the pan, pour the sauce mixture around it, and toss quickly to coat everything.

Once the sauce coats everything, transfer to a plate and finish with chili oil and Sichuan pepper to taste.