eG Cook-Off #65: Pork Belly

[Shelby]

And, here's what we did with the second belly…we meaning my husband lol.

Bacon!

Brined for a week and then smoked for 4 hours at 160 degrees.

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Image 1.jpg

Do you prefer to bake the bacon or pan-fry? I prefer to put the slices on a rack over a cookie sheet and bake in a 400 oven, turning once or twice, until crispy.

I am the same way--in the oven. I, frankly, am not good at pan frying bacon and I like my results a whole lot better in the oven.

[huiray]

A version of Nyonya-style Babi Panggang.

Closely after recipe P38 of Irene's Peranakan Recipes.

Pork belly piece:

Sliced lengthwise, fairly deeply. Slathered w/ a mix of chopped garlic, salt & pepper, rubbed into the slits also.

Rested overnight (cold garage). Roasted in medium oven for a short while. Pulled out, skin pricked w/ a sharp pointed paring knife, then broiled under the grill till the skin bubbled/crackled & turned brown. Left it a bit too long (surfing the Net)... Back into the oven for a bit. Pulled again, flipped over, "marinade" of chopped shallots, sugar, dark soy sauce, ground coriander powder, five-spice powder rubbed in. Flipped back over, returned to oven till meat at thickest part was at about 160ºF.

"Marinade":

After final pull = "done". (Burnt edges scraped off)

Chopped up (part of it) and plated;

with pickled scallions & Japanese cucumbers, white rice, Napa cabbage in chicken stock.

[David Ross]

Now that is a fabulous pork belly dish.

[Shelby]

A version of Nyonya-style Babi Panggang.

Closely after recipe P38 of Irene's Peranakan Recipes.

Pork belly piece:

DSCN0641a_1k.jpg

Sliced lengthwise, fairly deeply. Slathered w/ a mix of chopped garlic, salt & pepper, rubbed into the slits also.

DSCN0644a_1k.jpg

Rested overnight (cold garage). Roasted in medium oven for a short while. Pulled out, skin pricked w/ a sharp pointed paring knife, then broiled under the grill till the skin bubbled/crackled & turned brown. Left it a bit too long (surfing the Net)... Back into the oven for a bit. Pulled again, flipped over, "marinade" of chopped shallots, sugar, dark soy sauce, ground coriander powder, five-spice powder rubbed in. Flipped back over, returned to oven till meat at thickest part was at about 160ºF.

"Marinade":

DSCN0659a_1k.jpg

After final pull = "done". (Burnt edges scraped off)

DSCN0664a_1k.jpg

Chopped up (part of it) and plated;

with pickled scallions & Japanese cucumbers, white rice, Napa cabbage in chicken stock.

DSCN0673b_1k.jpg

I just drooled.

[huiray]

Thanks, David Ross & Shelby (& Anna N).

A comment about what kind of pork belly is desired - I think most folks here prefer meaty cuts, the meatier the better, I suspect. From the perspective of E/SE Asian cooking, a generous amount of fat is commonly preferred, with as many separate intercalating layers as possible being the most prized.

Here are two image sets - one for "five flower (pork) meat" (五花肉) and the other for "three layer (pork) meat" (三層肉), both of which are terms for pork belly. If I were to choose from the examples shown in the "five flower meat" set of images, I personally would LOVE to get my hands on this, this, and this - as just three examples. From the "three layer meat" set, three examples I'd snatch up would be this, this and this.

Naturally, YMMV.

:-)

[wokkingtall]

Hi huiray,

 

Your pork belly dish (above) looks fantastic .  I am wondering though...when you have it under the broiler to crisp the skin, what is the smoke factor like...?  Your recipe looks like something I'd want to try, but am afraid of triggering any and all the smoke alarms in my apartment.  ( I don't have a range hood, unfortunately...)

[huiray]

wokkingtall,  the smoke factor isn't bad at all - not none, but fairly minimal.  The aroma is certainly present, though.  I have smoke alarms also and they didn't seem disturbed by this.

[Shelby]

Anna, how is the bacon coming along?  

[Anna N]

Anna, how is the bacon coming along?

Another big FAIL. To me the cure I used was way too sweet. The belly itself should have been trimmed (by me) to be much neater. I think I did not pay enough attention to detail. Will be on the look out for another belly and will revert to Ruhlman's cure. I have done it before and it was fine bacon.

[Shelby]

Another big FAIL. To me the cure I used was way too sweet. The belly itself should have been trimmed (by me) to be much neater. I think I did not pay enough attention to detail. Will be on the look out for another belly and will revert to Ruhlman's cure. I have done it before and it was fine bacon.

Maybe you could use it for the famous bacon jam that everyone loves here?

[huiray]

Kow Yuk 2014-0307

 

A version of Mui Choy Kow Yuk (梅菜扣肉) (Hakka-style pork belly with preserved mustard greens).

 

 

Pork belly pieces: These are from half of a 3+ pound slab, cut into two.

 

Blanched/cooked in simmering water for about 5 minutes.  Prickled the skin all over with a fork.

 

 

Pan-fried on all sides, with canola oil.

 

 

Soaked in cold water for a while to chill it and to soften the skin a fair bit.

 

Cut into slices about 2/3 inch thick each.

 

 

In the meanwhile…

 

A pack of the mui choy I used (陳年梅乾菜). (“aged dry mustard greens”)

 

This is different from the “traditional” one more often used for this dish – which would be whole plants of mustard, preserved/pickled w/ salt (+ a little sugar) or sugar (+ a little salt), and would be “wetter” and either much saltier or sweeter (depending on the variety) and would require more extensive soaking.

 

These “aged dry” greens were swished briefly in a bowl of room temperature /lukewarm water just to loosen up the mass and to get rid of (most of) any residual grit, then drained in a colander.  Mixed with some of an earlier batch of these greens that had been soaked for much longer in water and which had resulted in almost all the flavor being leached out into the now brown (and tasty) water.  Squeezed lightly, then chopped up further.  Pan-fried/sautéed w/ chopped smashed garlic, finely chopped ginger and finely chopped shallots (a fair bit) in part of the pan residues (which also contained rendered lard) from frying the pork belly pieces, diluted w/ some canola oil.  (The mustard greens went in last, of course)

 

No picture, sorry.  Forgot to take one.

 

 

Also in the meanwhile…

 

A sauce/marinade was made:  Several cubes of white preserved beancurd in sesame oil (麻油白腐乳) were mushed up and gently “fried” in a little peanut oil then quenched w/ a mixture of Shaohsing wine (a fair bit), oyster sauce, yellow rock sugar, light soy sauce [i used Pearl River Superior], dark soy sauce [i used Yuet Heung Yuen], one cinnamon stick, about a dozen whole cloves, two whole star anise, some whole fennel seeds, a couple pieces of dried tangerine peel (陳皮), a few thin slices of ginger, a generous knife-blade-end’s-worth of five spice powder; followed by about two cups or so of warm water.  Simmered (partly covered) for a while to develop flavor and to blend.  The sauce is salty-tangy with a *definite* sweetness to it.

 

 

Pic of: 1) the chopped garlic, shallots and ginger used for frying with the rinsed mustard greens; and 2) of the sauce/marinade in the pan on the stove after everything had just been combined (before simmering to blend):

 

 

 

Assembly:

Pork belly slices, skin-side down, into a pyrex bowl; arranged side-by-side with two shorter slices “capping” the arrayed stack.  The fried mustard greens-shallots-ginger-garlic mixture went onto the pork slices, with some of the mixture worked between each slice and also around the pork belly slices.

 

 

The sauce/marinade was poured over the assembly, straining through a tea-strainer sieve.

The whole shebang was steamed for 6+ hours, with the water at a very gentle boil; water replenished as needed.

 

 

Plating:  a deep dish was placed over the bowl+contents (removed from the steaming pot, of course) and the whole thing quickly turned over (done over the sink, just in case!) while holding the two parts together firmly. (With a heat pad held on the bottom of the pyrex bowl)

 

Ta-da.

 

 

Eaten with white rice and a Daikon-Chinese mushroom soup. (See the “Dinner” thread for this)

Edited March 8, 2014 by huiray (log)

[wokkingtall]

My father (and others of his generation in my family) makes a similar kow yuk dish.  Instead of the preserved vegetable that you have, he (they) use thick-ish slices of taro.  Occasionally, it might be potato.

 

In my family's case, we would only get this for occasions such as Christmas.  My father would tell us how much work was required.  In his case, it usually took him 2-3 days.  I can see why now.

 

For me, it was a slightly acquired taste when I was younger.  I now enjoy it immensely... more so, perhaps because there will be fewer Christmases left to have it...  

[huiray]

On 3/10/2014 at 0:28 PM, wokkingtall said:

My father (and others of his generation in my family) makes a similar kow yuk dish.  Instead of the preserved vegetable that you have, he (they) use thick-ish slices of taro.  Occasionally, it might be potato.

 

In my family's case, we would only get this for occasions such as Christmas.  My father would tell us how much work was required.  In his case, it usually took him 2-3 days.  I can see why now.

 

For me, it was a slightly acquired taste when I was younger.  I now enjoy it immensely... more so, perhaps because there will be fewer Christmases left to have it...  

 

Heh - yes, the dish does take some effort. There are also, of course, many variations on how exactly to do it and what exactly goes into it.

 

Kow Yuk indeed has two forms - the one with taro yam slices (Wu Tau; 芋頭), which your father and his contemporaries prepare; and the one with preserved mustard greens which I did here. The taro yam version naturally also has variations on its preparation. :-)  I gave some links to both forms in a previous post on another thread here on eG.  I'm glad you enjoy this dish now when you have the opportunity to do so.

Edited December 21, 2015 by huiray
Corrected/updated link for post commenting on both forms of kow yuk. (log)

[huiray]

Fried rice with pork belly & stuff.

 

Thinly sliced pork belly, skin removed, frying w/ garlic in pan:

 

 

Sliced scallions, large-type green onion/negi, trimmed & cut-up Chinese garlic chive flowers and stalks.

 

 

The vegetables went into the pan, several-days-old Basmati rice, seasoned to taste.  Topped w/ freshly deep-fried sliced shallots.

 

[Paul Bacino]

Huiray-- really love looking at your work!!

[huiray]

Paul Bacino, thanks for the nice compliment.

[huiray]

Pan-fried spicy pork belly slices.

 

Adapted from this recipe. (Google translation)

 

 

Pork belly slices, about 1/3 inch thick, tossed with ground cumin (quite a bit), ground coriander (some), ground dried hot red chilli powder, red chilli flakes & seeds (hot), several good dashes of light soy sauce, several good pours of Szechuan pepper oil {花椒油; (Rapeseed oil + Szechuan pepper (prickly ash) oil)} [spicy King], a bit of salt.

 

This was left (covered) in the fridge for 1-2 days.

 

Pic after "fluffing up" the mixture:

 

 

Warmed back up to room temperature.  Glutinous rice flour added and everything tossed together (by hand; then with wet hands).

 

 

The glutinous rice flour used:

 

 

Pan-fried (on both sides) using canola oil.

 

 

Drained on paper towels.

Plated with raw sliced Napa cabbage.

 

 

Eaten w/ cucumber+scallion pickles, kinpira gobo, white rice.  See the Dinner! thread.

 

[David Ross]

The glutinous rice adds a sweet note to the pork belly is that correct?

[huiray]

Not really.  I used it because the recipe called for it.  It has been said elsewhere that it "binds" better and is more flexible...  The resulting fried coating is crispy enough and does seem slightly flexible but that may be my imagination.  I suspect regular rice flour would work also, hmm, worth a try.  

 

I used the ground coriander (which is not in the original recipe) to give a sweet note.

[huiray]

Pork Belly Bak Kut Teh.

 

Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶), literally "Pork^¶ Bone Tea" (in the Hokkien dialect), is a widely-eaten dish in certain parts of Malaysia and Singapore, with lesser consumption in other areas of Malaysia and SE Asia.  Every vendor of BKT will have available, at a minimum, pork spare ribs or meaty pork ribs as meat choices.  The other "meats" that will be widely available include pork belly, pig trotters, pork hocks, pig intestines (large & small), etc.  There are different "styles" of BKT and the Wiki article discusses the broad categories of them; while individual vendors will, aside from the meat(s) selections, may have their "own" idiosyncratic versions and/or hot-pot versions and/or the inclusion of stuff like enoki mushrooms or other mushrooms, Napa cabbage ("wong nga pak"), etc etc.  The rice that is served also may vary from rice cooked in stock w fried shallots and garlic to simple plain white rice, and one or the other kind may be hated or loved by one or another aficionado of BKT. Chinese crullers (油炸鬼; yau4 ja3 gwai2 (Yale) in Cantonese) are also a common accompaniment for BKT, and some folks shun rice in favor of a plate or two of crullers alone. 

 

^¶In Chinese the character "肉" actually means, simply, "meat".  However, in the absence of any modifiers or qualifiers the default meaning when talking about Chinese (and Chinese-type) cuisine is pork, unless the context indicates something else.  (beef would be called "牛肉"; mutton/lamb would be called "羊肉" - as examples)

 

See the Google image set embedded in "肉骨茶" above for examples of this dish.  One will see different combinations of cuts of meat, including pork belly slices of course; in soups of varying darkness and with varying accompaniments. :-)

 

 

I've not infrequently made BKT with pork spare ribs and meaty ribs before.  This time, I made BKT with pork belly and short-cut pork spare ribs; using a selection of herbs in a variation of the Canto-Hoklo style.

 

 

The pork belly strip and the ribs:

 

 

These were cut-up into chunks.  The pork belly went into water with two whole heads of garlic and brought towards a simmer.  A selection of herbs were added in, the mixture brought to a boil, then lowered to a brisk simmer.  A little sea salt was added.  Minimal skimming was needed.

 

 

Samples of the herbs and other stuff that went in.  (Somewhat more of the dried roots/shaved rhizomes than shown actually went in)

Starting from top left and going clockwise: Angelica sinensis, Codonopsis pilosula Nannf., dried longan meat, Polygonatum odoratum, dried tangerine peel; and sitting on the P. odoratum is a particular sort-of smoked variety (called "lam jou") of big select dates of Ziziphus jujuba.  See here for additional info about these herbs &etc.

 

 

Pic of the pot w/ stuff (somewhat blurry, sorry) after the herbs &etc went in:

 

 

After simmering (covered) for maybe ½ an hour the pork rib(lets) went in and the mixture simmered maybe 20 min to ½ an hour more.  The spices (see below) then went in, followed by the sauce mixture (dark soy sauce [Yuet Heung Yuen], light soy sauce [Kikkoman], oyster sauce [Lee Kum Kee]) and the mixture simmered (covered for a while more (maybe ½ an hour to 40-45 minutes more.  Abura-age (I used "sushi-age" pouches) each piece cut in half went in towards the end.

 

 

The pork ribs, sauce mix, abura-age:

 

 

The spices: cloves, star anise pods, cinnamon sticks, black cardamom (草果):

 

 

The completed BKT after resting:

 

 

Eaten with cut-up Chinese crullers (reheated/recrisped in the oven), simple stir-fried green cabbage w/ garlic & salt, white rice (Hom Mali).

Edited December 21, 2015 by huiray
Updated eG link (log)

[scubadoo97]

Pork belly buns tonight

[huiray]

Pork belly stewed with fresh bamboo shoots, jicama & wood-ear fungus.

 

 

The bamboo shoots, in the sink and after trimming.

 

 

 

Pork belly slices, about 1/2 inch thick each, marinated w/ Shaohsing wine, jozo mirin [Morita] & aged soy sauce [Kimlan].

 

 

Preserved bean curd & aka miso.

 

 

 

Starting from top left: Jicama (peeled, sliced into sticks) (沙葛 in Cantonese; sa1 got3); Wood-ear fungus (rehydrated dried stuff, trimmed); bamboo shoots (sliced into sticks); ginger & garlic.

 

 

Ginger & garlic went into the moderately hot pot w/ peanut oil, tossed (spatula) around till aromatic and just beginning to brown.  The marinated pork belly (with all of the marinade) went in next, tossed around.

 

 

A slurry (in some water) of the preserved bean curd & miso went in, everything stirred & tossed around.

 

 

Cracked white peppercorns, bay leaves plus a star anise pod also tossed in.  Stirred/cooked for a bit.  Water then added.  Stewed/braised (covered, but not a "sealing" lid) for a while; liquid allowed to reduce some.

 

 

The jicama, bamboo shoots & wood-ear fungus then went in the pot.  A bit blurry, sorry.

 

 

Simmered/braised down.  Seasoning adjusted.  (NB: The bean curd and miso are high-salt components)

 

 

A portion of the finished dish, eaten with softened skinny rice noodles (meifun). (Yes, it's there, underneath all the stuff)

Edited April 5, 2014 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

Another pork belly and bamboo shoots dish variation.

 

 

Pork belly chunks and cut-up ginger.

 

 

Pork belly sliced up.  Garlic cloves smashed and de-skinned.

Ginger sautéed w/ peanut oil till just browning.  Pork belly slices & smashed (unchopped) garlic added, everything stirred around on medium heat.  Salted.

 

 

Water added. Covered, simmered for a while.

 

 

Slender fresh bamboo shoots [Yu Yee brand; 如意牌 小竹筍], rinsed and soaked in water for a while, added to pot.  Simmering continued for a while.  "Soy puffs" [Nature's Soy brand], halved, added in afterwards closer to the end of cooking.

 

 

 

Simmered till done and pork belly slices are succulent and skin is meltingly soft.  Seasoning adjusted. 

 

 

Eaten w/ Napa cabbage stir-fried w/ garlic, and white rice.

[huiray]

Pork belly & lotus root soup.

 

 

Lotus root segments, scrubbed; sliced pork belly; smashed garlic.

 

 

Pork belly slices beimng sautéed w/ the garlic in peanut oil.

 

 

Some other stuff that went into the developing soup.

Starting from 11 o'clok and going clockwise: Large Chinese jujubes, honey jujubes (Chinese red jujubes preserved by drying and soaking in honey), dried (& lightly salted) cuttlefish (three of them), dried Goji berries, raw peanuts.

 

 

Soup being cooked.  Salting/seasoning adjusted.

 

 

Bowl of the finished soup.

 

[btbyrd]

Pork and beans.

 

Cured belly cooked SV for 48 hours, chilled, portioned, deep fried. With navy beans, kale, pickled squash, pickled mustard seeds, and Benton's lardons.