This recipe for Chinese pork belly is named after an ancient Chinese statesman, poet, and gourmand of the Song Dynasty. The pork is cooked three different ways, rendering the meat succulent, tender, and very flavorful. If you can't find pork belly, ask the butcher; it is what bacon is before it is cured and sliced.
Ingredients
- raw pork belly: 1 pound
- vegetable oil: 3 Tbsp
- light soy sauce: 0.25 cup
- dark soy sauce: 0.25 cup
- Chinese rice cooking wine: 0.5 cup
- ½ ounces Chinese rock sugar: 3 piece
- ginger: 1 piece (1 inch piece, grated, fresh)
- spring onions: 8 piece (sliced)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Slice pork belly into 2-inch wide strips. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and stir in pork slices; reduce heat to a simmer, and cook the meat for 10 minutes. Remove from the water and blot dry with paper towels.
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Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large wok. Brown pork strips well on all sides. Pork will splatter — use a splatter shield for this step.
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While pork is browning, mix together light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice wine, rock sugar, ginger, and spring onions in a large soup pot or stockpot. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and lay the pork strips into the liquid. Cover, and simmer until the meat is very tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add water as needed to keep the liquid from going completely dry.