Recipe for Pork Stomach

[Ufimizm]

Recently a store started carrying pork stomach in the freezer case, and it reminded me of a girl I knew in college who was from China. We would end up eating lunch in the same place around the same time most days. She always brought her own food from home and it always looked and smelled awesome. I started to ask her about what she was eating and she started to share and bring me samples of her cooking. She was an excellent cook. One dish she made was a pork stomach dish that was savory and spicy and it was my favorite dish she made. I never was able to learn a lot about how she made stuff because she was very shy about her English skills which created a bit of a language barrier.

It's been 15 years since I had it, and I would like to try to make it. From what I remember talking to her was that it was a recipe she learned from her grandmother. She simmered the stomach until it was tender in a "seasoned broth". She would cool and slice it and then crisp it in a pan. The sauce is what I need help with, it was a spicy brown sauce, but I have no idea what was in it exactly and while now I have a better grasp on different seasonings I have never been able to recreate it. The veggies I remember that went with it were bamboo shoots, onion, carrot, fresh button mushrooms.

I know my description is pretty vague, but is anyone familiar with a dish like this?

[hzrt8w]

.....

She simmered the stomach until it was tender in a "seasoned broth". She would cool and slice it and then crisp it in a pan. The sauce is what I need help with, it was a spicy brown sauce, but I have no idea what was in it exactly

...

I know my description is pretty vague, but is anyone familiar with a dish like this?

What you had described seemed to be the common "red braised" cooking method. There are many different recipes to "brew" you own brown sauce, or "seasoned broth", or "red braise liquid". Typically it is a combination of thick/dark soy sauce, "five spice" combination, rock sugar, water. The meat or protein you cook using the red braise liquid will in turn add flavor to the liquid and shall be kept and re-used the next time. The process is repeated. And with each time you add some more soy/spices/sugar/water.

Take a look at a post I made a while back. That should give you a starting point. I cooked beef shank in the recipe but it should suit you well. Use pork stomach instead of beef shank.

Beef Shank Braised with Five Spice and Soy Sauce (五香牛腱)

Edited July 26, 2011 by hzrt8w (log)

[baobabs]

my mother makes this dish often too when I was growing up. I in addition to the recipe of soya sauce, rock sugar, water, and five spices, she puts in crushed cloves of garlic, shredded ginger, star anaise and add a thick sweet black sauce to taste.(from red dates, you might be able to find it in the Chinese provision store, I managed to find it in the store when I was living in Italy).

Also, my mother used to always say the stomach has to be thoroughly marinated otherwise it would smell, so she would put it in a pot of marinate of all the above ingredients.

I can only guess the spice is from the shredded ginger and perhaps some ground pepper.

[qrn]

pork "stomach"The same as "pork belly"????

[liuzhou]

pork "stomach"The same as "pork belly"????

or we are talking about pork tripe, here.

[Ben Hong]

Pork stomach is the actual stomach, not belly pork.

Best way to cook it (for me) is to long simmer it in "loo Sui", or master sauce.

[Zeemanb]

I've never cooked it, but I've eaten Mexican "buche" several times and find it to be absolutely delicious. The stomach is cleaned and braised, then the whole thing is deep fried to get the outside crisp and then cubed and tucked into tacos and burritos. Outstanding textural experience.

[Dejah]

My Mom always soaked the stomach in water and baking soda before braising so it wouldn't have that slightly off smell.

I usually buy it in the Chinese BBQ shop. My brother and I are the only ones who will eat this - SO GOOD! I like it cooked with dried beancurd soup too.

[Ufimizm]

Thank you for the responses. I was referring to the pork stomach and not the belly to clarify things. I have done "red cooked" pork belly, pork shoulder, pork hocks.... and I love that, but this was different. I think braising in a lu shui style master stock and then following Zeemanb's suggestion of being fried and chopped would get me half the way there.

The sauce on the finished dish is what I can not place. I just happened to meet someone who is part Chinese and she thought it sounded like something her grandmother would have made. She called her mom, who said grandma did make something like that, but she never liked it and did not know what was in it. She thought the odd flavor I could not place could have been either a fermented black bean paste or broad bean paste. She also brought up the point that by being located in rural central Wisconsin with limited access to certain ingredients that she may have used something close but different which will make it more challenging to recreate. She suggested also trying some Gochujang and seeing how that works.

[Beebs]

Could the sauce have been soy sauce paste? It's a thick, sweet-ish, dark sauce - basically thickened soy sauce. Taiwanese restaurants here often serve braised pork large intestine with a condiment of this paste and garlic.

Oh. You said it was "spicy". Maybe hot chili oil mixed in?

[Ufimizm]

I have never seen or heard of soy sauce paste, but even if it is not what I am looking for, it would not hurt to try it. For me half the fun of trying to figure out recipes like this is finding stuff that I like and can use in other dishes.

[Brasshopper]

I've made a dish like this, it used powdered ginger and garlic in the boil with some mushroom soy and water. The tripe would be completely cooked (simmer time was about an hour), then cut into strips, and dusted with a little starch and depending on my mood, and the taste of the tripe after the boil, a bit more ginger, allowed to dry and absorb the starch and crisped up in the wok, with a few drops of sesame oil. Takes a little time, and no one else in my house will eat it, but I love it. It goes well with scallions and such for a bit of contrast as even after the double cooking the tripe is a little greasy. Had I thought of it, I would have added a little five spice to the boil.

When I used to make this regularly, I had a candy stove set up with a high power burner (The candy stoves rings were perfect for wok holding, but the burner was a waste of time), so I had as much heat as a Chinese restaurant wok stove, the whole bottom of the wok could be coated with blue flame. This seemed essential for the crisping process. I've tried making it since, it does not crisp properly. YMMV.

[threestars]

Not really familiar with the Pork Stomach. But it sounds interesting to try. Hope you find a good recipe for that and might share.