Hakka Braised Pork Belly Steamed over Preserved Mustard Greens (Mei Cai Kou Rou)

What you need

• 600 g (1.3 lb) skin-on pork belly, one rectangular slab
• 120 g (4 oz) preserved mustard greens, mei cai, dried and salted
• 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp for soaking, 1 tbsp for stir-frying
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp for the skin, 2 tbsp for the sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 4 slices ginger, 2 for poaching, 2 minced for the greens
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick, about 5 cm (2 in)
• 2 leaves bay leaves
• 200 ml (3/4 cup) vegetable oil, about 3 tbsp for the greens, the rest for shallow-frying the pork
• 2 stalks scallions, thinly sliced

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Cover the mei cai with cold water, stir in 1 tbsp of the sugar and soak for at least 1 hour. Rinse 4-5 times, rubbing the leaves, until the water runs clear. Squeeze dry and chop finely.

2. 2

   Put the pork belly in a pot with 2 slices of ginger, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 25-30 min, until a chopstick slides into the meat with light resistance and the pork is cooked through, well past 63 °C (145 °F).

3. 3

   Lift out the pork, pat it very dry and leave it uncovered for 15 min. Dry skin keeps the frying oil from spitting.

4. 4

   Rub the skin with 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce.

5. 5

   Heat the oil in a deep pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Lay the pork skin side down, cover with a splatter guard and fry for 4-6 min, until the skin is deep amber and blistered. Stand back, the oil spits.

6. 6

   Lift the pork onto a rack and cool for 15 min, then cut it into slices 1 cm (1/2 in) thick.

7. 7

   Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a wok over medium heat. Fry the minced ginger and garlic for 20 seconds, add the mei cai and the remaining 1 tbsp of sugar and stir-fry for 2-3 min, until fragrant.

8. 8

   Mix the remaining 2 tbsp of dark soy sauce, the light soy sauce and the Shaoxing wine in a small bowl.

9. 9

   Lay the pork slices skin side down in a heatproof bowl, overlapping them neatly in a ring. Tuck the star anise, cinnamon and bay between the slices.

10. 10

    Pour the soy mixture over the pork, then pack the stir-fried mei cai on top, pressing it down until it sits level with the rim.

11. 11

    Steam over boiling water for 2 hours, topping up the steamer with boiling water as needed, until the fat is translucent and the meat yields to a chopstick.

12. 12

    Pour the juices from the bowl into a small pan and simmer for 2 min to thicken slightly. Remove the star anise, cinnamon and bay.

13. 13

    Set a deep plate over the bowl and flip them together. Lift off the bowl so the pork sits on top of the greens.

14. 14

    Spoon the reduced juices over, scatter with scallion and serve.

Imported from cookcoda.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.