Glorious Chinese Pork Belly

Preamble

Pork belly recipes abound in Asian cuisines and for any lover of this glorious epicurean delight each country, region and locale imparts its own nuance and flavorings to create a unique masterpiece not soon forgotten. Traditional Cantonese formulations prep the delicious skin like a pin cushion, requiring an extensive piercing of only the uppermost layer to insure a golden crispy topping after a proper roasting. Travel north to Shanghai and you will find a variation of red braised pork belly “hong shou ro” which transforms the skin, fat and lean into fragrant clouds that melt in your mouth with an unequalled depth of flavor enabled by rock sugar, star anise, cloves and cinnamon. A variety of accompaniments include daikon radish, carrot, lotus root, bean curd puffs, Chinese pickled preserved mustard greens and “fa‐tsai”, a delicate dark vegetable resembling hair. For purists however the braising pot belongs solely to the pork belly, whether presented in chunks, slices, strips or cubes. A final word about the importance of rice: this is the ultimate rice accompaniment because after the requisite cooking time the braising liquid is transformed into a sauce that you will dream about until you next prepare it. Braised pork belly is the finest example of “sha fan”, a Chinese expression for “encourages the consumption of rice”.

After perusing dozens of recipes to separate the basics of preparing pork belly from its many wonderful regional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Philippine interpretations I offer the following recipe which is simple, classic and relatively easy. I have tested it at my dinner table a few times and so far there have been no complaints. Finally as with so many inspirations I owe my appreciation for good food to my parents: mom and dad, this is for you. Jonathan

Braised Pork Belly (serves up to 6 with rice and side dishes)

Ingredients

1 slab pork belly with skin, 4‐6 pounds

Fresh ginger root‐one large knuckle

Fresh green onions‐three bunches

Fresh garlic‐two whole bulbs or 16 cloves

Rock sugar‐two heaping table spoons

Light soy‐1 cup

Dark soy‐one half cup

Chinese cooking wine‐one half cup

Kosher salt‐two tablespoons

Black pepper ground‐one tablespoon

White pepper ground‐several shakes

Star anise‐three stars

Cloves‐two or three pieces‐(a little goes a long way)

Cinnamon sticks‐two

Whole dried Chinese or Thai red chili peppers‐four or five to taste (optional)

Toasted sesame oil‐two tablespoons

Water

Corn starch or arrow root powder

Preparation

Cut pork belly slab along its short dimension into 1.5 inch wide strips and Immerse into large pot of boiling water with several slices of ginger and 3‐4 scallions; boil for 15 minutes to remove impurities and then rinse thoroughly with cold water. Pat dry and then cut strips into 1.5”X 1.5” cubes.

In a wok or large non‐stick pot heat ? cup of vegetable oil, preferably peanut oil and definitely not olive oil, until shimmering and then add rock sugar; simmer until sugar caramelizes and dissolves completely being watchful not to let it burn.

Add pork belly cubes, increase heat to medium and coat each piece thoroughly until light golden brown‐1‐2 minutes.

Add all the aromatics including sliced ginger, whole scallions, whole peeled garlic cloves, star anise, cloves, cinnamon sticks, optional chili peppers, light and dark soy, kosher salt, black pepper and cooking wine and cook on medium heat uncovered for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add just enough water to cover contents of the pot, bring to a boil, cover and turn heat down to low/simmer; pork belly should be bubbling gently.

After 60-75 minutes* the pork belly should be “melt in your mouth” tender and the braising liquid should reduce to a light syrup consistency; remove cover to reduce further as required for right consistency‐not too runny or too dry. To avoid over cooking the pork you can also add a light corn starch, potato starch or arrowroot slurry to thicken the sauce at this point. Make sure to have enough sauce for your rice!

* cooking time depends on the size of the the pork belly pieces; cook 1.5" cubes for 75 minutes; smaller pieces or slices require an hour or slightly less.

Plate the pork belly after removing the optional chili peppers, ginger, star anise, cloves and cinnamon; garnish with fresh scallions and a light scattering of white pepper and toasted sesame oil to taste.

Make sure you have plenty of steamed white rice and a good appetite!

Additional Note 10/12/21

I've received some feedback about some of the ingredients being too ethnic for a typical Western kitchen so here are a few suggestions to simplify your shopping list. The results won't be exactly the same but probably close enough.

• substitute brown sugar for the rock sugar
• substitute Chinese five spice powder for the star anise, cloves and cinnamon sticks
• substitute sherry, mirin or sake for the Chinese cooking wine.
• substitute a good all purpose soy sauce like Kikkoman for separate light and dark soy sauces. Dark soy is primarily for color and light soy is for sodium-an all purpose soy provides a bit of both. Do not use the reduced sodium Kikkoman because it won't be salty enough.