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Sweet-savory twice-cooked pork swapped into the filling of France's classic Croque Monsieur sandwich.
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Croque Monsieur is a French bistro classic — bread filled with ham and cheese, toasted until golden. Here, the ham is replaced with twice-cooked pork belly and cabbage stir-fried in a sweet-spicy doubanjiang-miso sauce. The bold Chinese seasoning clings beautifully to the toasted bread and melted cheese. One reader who made it with cream cheese instead reported it was delicious — while you lose Gruyère's signature stretch, cream cheese's tang and richness turn out to mellow the sweet-spicy sauce nicely rather than clashing with it.
Cut the pork belly into bite-sized pieces and roughly chop the cabbage.
Fry the garlic in a pan, then add the pork belly and cook until browned.
Add the cabbage and stir-fry, then add the doubanjiang, miso, and sugar to make the twice-cooked pork filling.
Top one slice of bread with the filling and half the Gruyère cheese, then sandwich with the second slice.
Heat butter in a pan and toast both sides until golden brown.
Top with the remaining cheese to melt, cut in half, and serve.