酸菜卤肉饭/Braised pork belly with mustard greens
This sensual satisfying dish is a joy to make, pretty easy, and with deep sumptuous umami and mustard tang. it may look like there’s lots of steps to this but it’s really quite simple, just a couple extra processes. Meet your new tasty friend :)
Prep 20 minutes
Cook 2 hours
Serves 4 people (leftovers!)
Ingredients
500 g pickled sour mustard greens*
750g boneless skin-on pork belly (can also use skinless pork belly)
2 star anise
3 bay leaves
piece of Chen Pi (aged mandarin peel, get it at your asian grocer or use dried orange peel. it’s a nice touch)
1 cinnamon stick
45 ml 14 Spice Oil
40 g rock sugar (or substitute 3 tablespoons granulated sugar)
60 ml Shaoxing wine
20 ml Secret Weapon Soy or normal soy
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
475-700 ml water
Big thumb of ginger, julienned
*look for sour mustard greens, pickled mustard greens in the asian supermarket. they usually come in small vacc pacs in sections near dried seafood goods and are quite cheap and SO versitile in the kitchen.
Preparation
In a colander, rinse the pickled mustard greens a couple times to reduce some of their saltiness and sourness. Squeeze to get all the water out you can. Cut the stems into big inch chunks and the leafy parts way bigger otherwise they’ll fall apart.
Cut the pork belly into ½-inch (1.25cm) thick pieces. Boil a pot of water and then put in the pork. Simmer on high for a minute and then drain and rinse. This will help the colour of your dish and is always a good step when preparing pork belly
Heat 1 tablespoon of neutral oil in a wok over medium-low heat, and add the rock sugar. Cook until the sugar melts into an amber-colored liquid, and then add the pork belly.
Increase the heat to medium-high, and cook for a few minutes to lightly brown the edges of the pork belly pieces. It will spit and sizzle. Worry not.
Then add the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and 2 (or 3 if you want more sauce) cups of water. If you are not using a wok, use 1.5 to 2.5 cups of water, as the liquid won’t cook off as quickly in a thick-bottomed pot.
Add the spices and bring the contents of the wok to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a frypan, cook the ginger slices for 1 minute in a little oil. Increase the heat to high, and add the pickled mustard greens. Stir, and cook for about 5 to 8 minutes, until the greens are dry and you start hearing a popping sound from the greens in the pan. Remove from the heat. This step is key! It makes for a non soggy braise and keeps the integrity of the mustard pickle.
Once the pork has simmered until very almost tender, remove the spices, and stir in the cooked pickled greens with the ginger. Simmer for another 15 minutes, or longer if you like the pork belly really tender. Feel free to adjust the sauce level by adding more water if it is too dry (or by turning up the heat to cook off the liquid if it’s too wet).
Serve with steamed rice jasmine, some fresh mustard pickle, fermented tofu, and steamed chinese greens dressed with some sesame oil.
