Red-cooked pork belly with greens

[mizducky]

Red-cooked pork belly with greens

Serves 8 as Main Dish.

This recipe is a blend of a number of recipes for red-cooked and other braised pork belly dishes, including several from Kenneth Lo's Encyclopedia of Chinese Cooking, plus Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe for "Aromatic Pork Belly Hot Pot."

In Asian groceries with a full-service meat counter, you'll find a couple of different grades and cuts of pork belly. You want the type with the rind on, and with several layers of meat and fat--this is typically the cut with some rib bones in, usually priced slightly higher per pound than the thinner grade with fewer layers.

I break this recipe into two day's worth of work, mainly because I find it easier to slice the meat and defat the braising liquid when both are well-chilled. You could do this all in one day--just be very careful when slicing the super-tender warm meat, because it will want to fall apart on you; and defat the braising liquid as best you can.

• 3 lb chunk pork belly with rind
  
• 3 star anise
  
• 1 dried red chiles
  
• 1/4 c Chinese dark soy sauce
  
• 1/4 c Chinese light soy sauce
  
• 1/4 c Shaoxing wine
  
• 2 T rice wine vinegar
  
• 1 small handful Chinese yellow rock candy
  
• chicken broth or water to cover
  
• 1 bunch scallions
  
• 4 bunches baby bok choy
  

1. The day before you intend to serve the dish, cut the pork belly crosswise into two or three more manageable-sized chunks, that will fit together in a single layer in the pot in which you will be braising the meat. Place in your braising pot, and pour over the meat enough boiling water to cover. Bring the water back to the boil, then turn it back down to a simmer; simmer gently about five minutes, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Drain the meat, discarding the parcooking liquid, and giving the meat a brief rinse to knock off any remaining albumim scum.

2. Wipe out the pot, put the meat back in, place back on the stove, and this time pour over it enough boiling chicken broth to cover (if you don't have broth, use boiling water again). Halve the scallions crosswise, split the white parts lengthwise, and add to the pot, along with the soy sauces, wine, vinegar, star anise, chiles, and sugar. Bring back up to an active simmer, then cover and turn to low. Simmer as gently as possible for a good couple of hours, turning the meat in the cooking liquid occasionally, until it is extremely tender and the rind is very soft.

3. Drain the meat, reserving the cooking liquid. Return the cooking liquid to the pot and reduce drastically--but stop before the liquid gets too salty. Cool the reduced broth, then chill overnight in the fridge and remove the solidified fat the next day. Also cool down the meat, and pull out any rib bones that come out easily without making the meat fall to pieces. Then carefully (so as not to damage the skin or fat layer) store skin-side up in a single layer in a lidded container, placed in the coldest part of your fridge.

4. The next day, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In the bottom of an oven-to-table casserole, place halved bunches of baby bok choy in a single layer. Slice the meat thickly, removing any remaining rib bones with a small sharp knife, and arrange the slices attractively over the bok choy. Pour the reduced cooking liquid (loosened up as needed with a brief nuke in the microwave) over the contents of the casserole, cover tightly, and bake until the meat has fully come up to temperature and the skin is unctuously soft again.

5. Serve out of the casserole, over plenty of steamed white rice to absorb all the juices.

Keywords: Main Dish, Easy, Chinese, Pork

( RG2091 )