Chinese New Year is just right around the corner! I wish you all the best in the year of the dog. And today I bring you Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens. It’s a super popular dish during Chinese New Year that you must try!
2 pounds of pork belly
4 pods star anises
2 slices of ginger
1 cup of oil
3 tablespoons of chu hou paste
3 tablespoons of hoisin
7 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of red fermented tofu sauce
2 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon of sugar
4 ounces of preserved mustard green
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon of minced ginger
2 bay leaves
2 cups of chicken stock
1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water
scallions for garnish
Here we have 2 pounds of pork belly that I’ve fully cleaned. Too bad when I bought this from the store, the skin is cut off a bit and I didn’t see it. But it’s no big deal. We can take care of that later.
In a pot of room temperature add the pork belly, 2 star anises, 2 slices of ginger in it. Boil it in medium heat for 30 minutes until well done.
Use sharp objects to poke lots of holes on it. Then dry it with a paper towel (I’m using my Star War paper towels. Woohoo~). Brush about 6 tablespoons of dark soy sauce on it while it’s still hot. Then air dries it.
In a pan, add oil till the level of pork skin, add the pork belly with skin facing down while the oil is still cool, and quickly cover the lid to prevent the oil from splashing everywhere. Fry the skin over medium heat until golden. Turn off the heat before you uncover the lid. The pork belly skin should look like it has spots on it.
Wait until the pork belly is cooled down.
While waiting, let’s make the sauce, mix 3 tablespoons of chu hou paste, 3 tablespoons of hoisin, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of red fermented tofu sauce, 2 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine, 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix well.
Slice the pork belly into about 1/2 inch thick.
Pour the sauce over the pork belly and let it marinade. Make sure that every slice is marinated.
In the meantime, let’s prepare preserved mustard greens. I’ve already soaked them in water for about 1 hour and thoroughly washed them. Now let’s squeeze the water out. Then we are going to mince them.
In a pan, put the preserved mustard greens in it and dry stir-fry without oil until they feel dry. So they will absorb the oil from the pork belly and the sauce better later. Put aside.
In a hot pan, add 3 tablespoons of oil, 3 cloves of minced garlic and 1/2 tablespoon of minced ginger, the preserved mustard greens, 2 star anises, and 2 bay leaves in the pan. Stir until the aroma comes out. Then add 2 cups of chicken stock and the marinade sauce. Boil for about 5 minutes until the stock has become concentrated.
Nicely place the meat in a bowl. And put the preserved mustard greens on top of the pork.
Steam it for at least 2 hours. If you like your pork belly even soften, you could go for 2 ½ or even 3 hours.
Pour the sauce back into the pan and add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water to thickening the sauce.
Carefully put the bowl on a plate and place everything nicely on a plate. Pour over the sauce. Garnish with some scallions.
