Cooking with Pork Belly

Last night I cooked my first recipe using pork belly. Well, if you don't count using sliced bacon which is technically pork belly! This was Pork Belly I purchased in large chunks! Tom really wanted me to figure out how to make this dish he buys from the local 'fast food' Chinese place which is basically pork and pork fat. I found a dish on the February issue of Sauveur magazine I still get and adapted to what I could find here. I was not sure what to expect, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. I did have to spend a few minutes ensuring that the pork belly was in fact skinless! It turned out pretty good as a matter of fact. Despite my initial set back of figuring out half way through the process that my conversion from lbs to kilograms was off! I should have paid more attention during our 2 day high school education on the metric system. It was pretty time consuming this first time, though I think I could go a little faster next time. The most time consuming think ended being the shopping for the rice wine. In the use, you can buy the Chinese Rice Wine in the food section. Here, you buy it in the alcohol section as a lot Chinese drink this very potent alcohol. I went to the store thinking naively that I would just pick up a bottle like you buy cooking sherry in the US. I had to read labels on bottles for almost 15 minutes! I ended up buying a brand or type named kuaijishanhuadiaojiu. It was aged 3 years (who knew?) and tastes like Everlclear (190 proof grain alcohol) with sesame hints to it. Interesting. It did give the recipes an interesting flavor. Not sure if you substituted something other than rice wine if it would end up exactly the same, but if you use anything else I would think something along a dry sherry would be OK.

In addition to the Hung Shao Rou (Red Cooked Pork Belly) I also made a simple beef with broccoli stir-fry and sauteed mushrooms with garlic. Always good to have a backup in case the main entree flops. To be honest, cleaning the beef "flank" was a lot more difficult than preparing the pork belly. All meat here is sold with as much fat as the butcher can leave on it. so the flank had a whole wrapping of fat on it. That wasn't the hard part, it was the membrane underneath that attached the fat to the meat. Yuk. Anyway, it was a nice meal. We all three ate together with candles. Natalie loved the beef, but was so-so with the pork. Tom like both. Here are the recipes below. Note that I adjusted to serve 2-3 only. If you are serving more, you might want to double. Of course we served with rice!

Hong Shao Rou - Red Cooked Pork Belly

1/2 kg Pork Belly

1/2" piece of Ginger, peeled

6 Scallions

1/4 cup shaoxing jiu (Chinese rice wine)

2 Tbs Dark Mushroom Soy Sauce [note that this is much richer and thicker than regular soy sauce. if you substitute, I would think you would use a little bit more!]

2 1/2 cups water

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

olive oil / vegetable / corn oil (use what you prefer!)

Slice ginger into thin "coins". Clean and cut scallions into 2" pieces. Cut pork belly into 1 1/2" chunks.. Place pork into a pot and cover with water. Bring to boil, covered. Once boiling, uncover and cook for 2 minutes, stirring once or twice. Drain and rinse pork. Heat 2 Tbs oil in a flat-bottomed wok over high heat. Add ginger and scallions and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Add pork to wok and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add rice wine and stir-fry until pork begins to brown, 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce and cook until absorbed, 1-2 minutes. Add half of water and salt, bring to boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer, cooking pork until tender, about an hour total. Add the remaining part of the water around the edges of the wok as water is absorbed. [note: The amount of water needed may vary depending on the cut of pork belly. Adding 1/2 cup at a time will help ensure you don't add to much.]. Stir occasionally when adding water. There should be about 1/2 cup of liquid in pan when pork is tender. Add sugar and cook, uncovered until sauce is slightly thickened, 8-10 minutes.

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

1/2 kg Broccoli

2 cloves broccoli, pressed or chopped fine

1/2 kg beef flank (or sirloin)

1 Tbs soy sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbs water

Cooking sauce:

1 Tbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tbs shoaxing jiu (Chinese rice wine)

Slice broccoli into small florets. Cut beef into 1 1/2 inch strips (with the grain) and then cut into 1/4" diagonal slices against the grain. In a bowl, mix the soy sauce and garlic. Add sliced beef and mix well. Let marinade for 15-30 minutes. Prepare cooking sauce by mixing ingredients in small bowl and whisking with fork. Set aside. Heat a few tsp oil in wok over high heat. Add half of beef and cook until brown, 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan. Heat an additional 2 tsp oil and remaining beef when hot. Cook and add to other beef. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining oil in wok. When hot, add broccoli, stir-frying briefly, 1 minute. Add water to wok and cover. Cook until broccoli is fork tender, 3-4 minutes. [note that this may require a bit more water, go ahead and add a Tbs at a time until broccoli is cooked to desired level]. Add beef back to wok and pour cooking sauce around edges of wok. Bring to a boil and let sauce thicken. Enjoy!