Twice-Cooked Pork
Pork first simmered, then stir-fried with peppers and bean paste.
← Home offal Sichuan spicy
Fire-Burst Kidney and Liver
Pork kidney and liver, blanched for twenty seconds, then flash-fried with doubanjiang, onion and green pepper in under a minute. Adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report — 火爆腰肝, report 181. This is an offal dish, kept honestly.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 火爆腰肝_181.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 10 minutesCook: 5 minutesTotal: 15 minutesServings: 1–2Difficulty: MediumRegion: SichuanFlavour: Spicy-savoury
Home adaptation note: The report is one portion (150 g liver, 100 g kidney). Quantities below are that portion. Buy kidney and liver very fresh, cook the same day, and do not serve this dish to anyone advised to avoid offal. The 30 ml oil is the report's figure for the wok, not a deep-fry quantity.
Why this works
Fire-burst cooking is a race against toughness, and this dish is won or lost in about sixty seconds. Kidney is split, stripped of its white membrane, scored at forty-five degrees and cut into strips; liver is sliced only three millimetres thick. Both are coated with wine, starch and a little salt — five grams of starch per hundred grams of meat, the report's exact ratio — and rested just three minutes. Then they are blanched in fully boiling water for twenty seconds, no more, until the surface changes colour and the centre reaches seventy-five degrees. That blanch is mandatory: it is the report's safety step and also what keeps the offal tender, since the final wok stage then lasts only seconds. Bean paste is fried gently until its red oil separates, onion and pepper are burst on high heat, and the offal goes back in for a ten-second toss with a few shakes of the pan. Past one minute total, the kidney and liver turn hard, dry and watery.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pork liver, sliced 0.3 cm thick | 5.3 oz | 150 g | Very fresh; cook the same day. |
| Pork kidney, scored and cut into strips | 3.5 oz | 100 g | Split, remove the white membrane, score at 45°, then cut into strips. |
| Onion, cut into chunks | 1.8 oz | 50 g | — |
| Green pepper, sliced | 1.8 oz | 50 g | — |
| Pixian doubanjiang | 1 tbsp + 1 tsp | 20 g | — |
| Shaoxing wine, divided | 2 tsp | 10 ml | Part for coating, part for the wok edge. |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | 2 g | Part for coating; the rest seasons the finish. |
| Sugar | 1/2 tsp | 3 g | — |
| Corn starch (for coating) | 2 tsp | 10 g | 5 g per 100 g of offal, per the report. |
| Neutral cooking oil | 2 tbsp | 30 ml | For the wok. |
Equipment
- Wok or large skillet — a wok is ideal here but a large skillet works (adaptation)
- Pot of fully boiling water for blanching
- Thermometer if you want to verify the 75 °C centre
Steps
- Prepare the offal. Split the kidney, remove the white membrane, score at 45° and cut into strips. Slice the liver 0.3 cm thick. Toss kidney and liver separately with wine, starch and a little salt and rest 3 minutes.
- Blanch. Bring a pot of water to a full boil. Add the coated offal and blanch on high heat for 20 seconds, until the surface changes colour and the centre reaches at least 75 °C. Lift out and drain at once.
- Bloom the paste. Heat the oil, add the doubanjiang and fry on low heat about 30 seconds until the red oil separates. Add the onion and green pepper and burst on high heat.
- Flash-fry and serve. Add the blanched offal, turn to maximum heat and toss quickly for 10 seconds. Splash wine around the edge of the pan, add salt and sugar, toss the pan 5–6 times until the sauce coats everything, and serve immediately. From first ingredient to plate, this stage must not exceed 1 minute.
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Technique: Twenty seconds, then ten
Two short clocks protect this dish: twenty seconds in boiling water, ten seconds in the wok. The blanch cooks the offal through; the wok only coats it. Reversing that logic — a long wok fry and no blanch — gives tough offal and an unsafe dish.
Variations
- Liver only: Use 250 g liver alone if kidney is hard to find (adaptation); the method is unchanged.
- Milder: Halve the bean paste and add a little more onion; the dish stays savoury but loses its Sichuan edge.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my kidney tough?
It was blanched too long, or the wok stage ran past a minute. Both ceilings are strict.
Do I have to blanch first?
Yes. The report forbids skipping it: it is the safety step and the tenderness step.
How do I clean kidney?
Split it, pull away all white membrane and any tubes, rinse well, then score and cut. Any membrane left behind stays chewy.
Storage
Best eaten immediately; offal toughens badly on reheating. If you must keep it, refrigerate 1 day and reheat very gently until steaming hot — expect a texture loss.
Fire-Burst Kidney and Liver — Recipe Card
Blanched kidney and liver flash-fried with doubanjiang, onion and pepper.
Prep: 10 minutesCook: 5 minutesTotal: 15 minutesServings: 1–2
Ingredients: 150 g pork liver; 100 g pork kidney; 50 g onion; 50 g green pepper; 20 g doubanjiang; 10 ml wine; 2 g salt; 3 g sugar; 10 g starch; 30 ml oil.
Steps: 1) Score kidney, slice liver, coat with wine, starch and salt, rest 3 minutes. 2) Blanch 20 seconds in boiling water, drain. 3) Fry bean paste to red oil, burst onion and pepper. 4) Toss offal 10 seconds on maximum heat, season, serve at once.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 火爆腰肝 (data/reports/181.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost.