marinated pork belly with mustard leaves

Mei Tsai Kou Rou (marinated pork with mustard leaves)

ingredients - Wu hua rou (pork belly, must have skin), mei tsai (dried pickled mustard leaves), scallion, ginger, soy sauce (you need two kinds - dark, aka shen cho, and normal), brown sugar.

tools - frying pan, one tooth pick, and most importantly a steamable bowl that's just big enough to fit all the ingredients


direction - This is a laborous dish... but blue insisted on knowing its secrets ^^;; so here you go... the whole thing will take a while, 4 +- 1 hrs including wait time, so start early =)
1. boil the pork belly just enough so it's fully cooked but still contain all the flavors, maybe 20 minutes defrosted (do NOT cut it into pieces yet!) (tip: the water used to cook the pork is great for soup base, once u remove the bits with a filter)
2. poke holes on the surface of the pork skin with a tooth pick (so that it won't blister) and coat the skin with a layer of dark soy sauce. now pour some oil on to the frying pan and use SMALL to medium heat to fry the skin side of the pork until it's brown (might want to cover it to avoid getting burned)
3. mix normal and dark soy sauce with some brown sugar in a small bowl. cut the pork into thin slices, cover it with the prepared sauce, and line it neatly in the steamable bowl, skin side face DOWN and around the bowl.
4. soak the mustard leaves in warm water for a few minutes (cut it up afterwards if it's not already in small pieces) . Drain, and stir fry it with diced scallion and ginger. pave the cooked mustard leaves on top of the pork so it covers the pork evenly.
5. place the finished product in a steamer and steam for at least 1 hr (i usually steam for 2 hrs).
6. finally, take the bowl out of the steamer and cover it with a plate deep enough to hold the extra sauce ;). and in one smooth motion turn it upside down... let the sauce drain onto the plate and remove the bowl... now you should have a perfectly aligned pork belly sitting on the plate =)

notes
er... good luck, and don't burn yourself.

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