Pork belly & daikon radish

[Gastro888]

Hi everyone:

I was telling my mom tonight what I was planning on cooking for dinner, which is pork belly braised with daikon & shiitake mushrooms in a chicken broth. Due to a really big lunch (Korean food) and a healthy dose of gelato (gotta love the lab in the LES!), I postponed it until tomorrow. Hence, my hint-seeking post!

The belly's been marinating in:

Mushroom soy sauce

5 spice powder

White pepper

Honey (I figured why the heck not)

I figured I'd brown the pork belly first in a pot. Then add the mushroom soaking liquid, chicken broth, shiitakes and daikon (peelled and cut into bite sized pieces). Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 1-1.5 hours.

My mom said I should blanch *both* the belly and the daikon before cooking. Seeing as I've marinated the belly, this may be an issue. I'll blanch the daikon but I wanted to ask the sage cooks in this forum if there's anything I might be missing.

If my addled brain can remember properly, I'll post pictures apres-dinner. Then again, I'm so frigging scatterbrained now I'm lucky I remember who I am!

[Dejah]

I would leave out the shitake mushrooms and the soaking liquid - does not work well with the honey. I use palm sugar or rock sugar when I make braised pork along with star anise, cinnamon stick, ginger. garlic, scallions, chili peppers, but no daikon.

Gastro, are those the same dong goo you'vew been soaking for...how many hours now?!

[hzrt8w]

... I figured I'd brown the pork belly first in a pot.  Then add the mushroom soaking liquid, chicken broth, shiitakes and daikon (peelled and cut into bite sized pieces).  Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 1-1.5 hours. ....

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There might be a small issue with this procedure, Gastro Mui. Where is the dark soy sauce in cooking? Unless you use massive amount of mushroom soy sauce in your marination... braised dishes use a heavy dose of dark soy sauce. May dilute it with some mushroom-soaking liquid. Thrifty thrifty!

And listen to Dejah Dai Ga Jeah... rock sugar... couldn't go wrong...

[Gastro888]

Gastro, are those the same dong goo you'vew been soaking for...how many hours now?!

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Nononono!

It's a different batch. I ate those other ones already & they were juuuust fine. Hee hee.

[Gastro888]

There might be a small issue with this procedure, Gastro Mui.  Where is the dark soy sauce in cooking?  Unless you use massive amount of mushroom soy sauce in your marination...  braised dishes use a heavy dose of dark soy sauce.  May dilute it with some mushroom-soaking liquid.  Thrifty thrifty! 

And listen to Dejah Dai Ga Jeah... rock sugar... couldn't go wrong...

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Oh, oops. I didn't know that. Actually, this is my first time doing something like this so forgive my mistakes. I just grabbed the mushroom soy sauce b/c:

1) I previously used it to marinate a steak that I pan fried and I really liked the flavor it gave the meat so I figured why not?

2) It's there.

I'll throw in some dark soy and rock sugar. Thank you Dai Ga Jeah and Dai Goh!

[XiaoLing]

Generally speaking, in my experience, when you are going to make a braised dish, you shouldn't marinate the meat. This is because you are going to slow braise the meat and that process will allow the sauce to permeate the meat and all the veggies.

Since you already marinated the meat, why not just brown the meat (add a little bit of cooking wine and ginger) and then mix the diakon. saute until sauce coats diakon and then add water and additional sauces for braising. And braise away!

[Gastro888]

Oops. Oh geez. I didn't realize I was making so many errors! I hope it turns out ok. Ai ya! No ShaoXing wine. Hopefully I can get some en route to home.

[XiaoLing]

No worries. Just cook it the way you would like to eat it. Cooking is all about creativity and fun with a tasty (sometimes) result.

Let us know what you did and post a pic of the results. I bet it will taste great and pretty soon maybe we'll all start marinating our braised meats.

[Gastro888]

Ok, I did it! And I took pictures, too. Now I have to figure out how to upload the darn things. And I goofed at first by adding wayyyy too much braising liquid (chix broth + mushroom soaking water. Yes, oh so Toisan of me.)

Caveat: It's not pretty. It's kinda mah-mah deh looking, actually. And it has a strong daikon taste. (BTW, is daikon leung or yet hay or neutral?). The shiitakes are quite yummy.

[Gastro888]

OK, so here's the fruit of my labor, plated (kinda):

It braised for about an hour. It's not what I thought it would be. Honestly, I was thinking I'd get that long simmered, rich braised taste and I ended up getting a really good tasting...stew. *sighs* Granted, I had several goofs

1) I marinated the meat (see previous post)

2) I didn't use the "proper" spice mix (oops)

3) I used wayyyy too much braising liquid. I had to scoop out some of the liquid before braising.

4) I used way to much daikon and cabbage

5) I think I shouldn't have used cabbage

6) I didn't blanch the daikon long enough prior to adding it into the main pot. My apartment smells like daikon now.

And why is my pork belly white inside? It looks sickly!

Another shot:

Thoughts?

PS: Tastes good, though!

[Ben Hong]

Gastro Girl, yeah, I'd eat it as is because it looks delish. I would think that 90 minutes cooking would make the meat more unctuously succulent though.

(You got a nice Chinese boy to share it with??)

[hzrt8w]

And why is my pork belly white inside?  It looks sickly! 

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One hour may not be enough though. Typical braising time is 2 to 3 hours. Slow fire.

[Gastro888]

Gastro Girl, yeah, I'd eat it as is because it looks delish. I would think that 90 minutes cooking would make the meat more unctuously succulent though.

(You got a nice Chinese boy to share it with??)  

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Oh, thanks Ben Sook! I think it's kinda bleah looking. But then again I didn't grow up eating alot of stews or braised dishes. I ate mostly sitr fries, soups and steamed dishes. I didn't try braised pork belly until I was older.

Why you gonna sell me for some roasted pigs if I don't?

[Gastro888]

And why is my pork belly white inside?  It looks sickly!  

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One hour may not be enough though. Typical braising time is 2 to 3 hours. Slow fire.

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I think you might be right. It tastes quite good however, it just doesn't look that great! My fire was too strong at first and I tempered it with a metal lid. (What's the proper name for that thing that goes over your burner? And yes, I made mine out of a coffee can lid. Yes, more proof of how Toisan I am. ) I'll try this dish again and I'll repost in a bit.

[aznsailorboi]

now im inspired to make braised pork belly... as a matter of fact i have some at home originally intended to make cantonese roast pork since its cold outside i can air dry it without the risk of bacteriafying the meat (this is not a real word haha oh well you guys know what i mean ) but that braised pork belly sounds way better than roast pork right now.

i only have dark mushroom soy sauce at home, would that work? and how much to ratio of water?

oh and another question what difference does the rock sugar give in flavor vs regular granulated sugar? can i use the brown sugar blocks (pein tong) coz that one i have at home.

Edited January 9, 2007 by aznsailorboi (log)

[XiaoLing]

Gastro - Did you pan sear or cook the pork belly whole and then cut it up afterwards?

[CFT]

BTW, is daikon leung or yet hay or neutral?

I would say leung (i.e. cooling).

[alanamoana]

And why is my pork belly white inside?  It looks sickly!  ...

Thoughts?

PS: Tastes good, though!

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well, probably self explanatory, but it's pasty colored because of the lack of soy sauce in the braising liquid.

the standard braise is like 'red cooked' (hong shao). i've used regular soy sauce diluted with water to no ill effect, but i bet dark soy or mushroom soy would be even better.

and as everyone else said, a little longer time on the heat can't hurt.

still looks delicious anyway!

[hzrt8w]

now im inspired to make braised pork belly... as a matter of fact i have some at home originally intended to make cantonese roast pork since its cold outside i can air dry it without the risk of bacteriafying the meat (this is not a real word haha oh well you guys know what i mean  ) ...

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You are tempted to make roast pork and wanted to air dry it in the backyard? You plan to hang to whole pig? I don't think roasting one piece of pork would work.

[hzrt8w]

oh and another question what difference does the rock sugar give in flavor vs regular granulated sugar? can i use the brown sugar blocks (pein tong) coz that one i have at home.

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From my experience, rock sugar (bing tong) works the best. Next pein tong. Next granulated brown sugar. Next regular granulated white sugar.

[Dejah]

I blanch, sear, add all ingredients, bring to a boil, then braise in the oven for several hours. The heat is consistent, and you don't have to keep watch over the pot as often.

Chinese rock sugar - bing tong, gives a different flavour as it is produced from strong solution of sugarcane juice. Common granulated sugar is the very refined form from sugarcane juice, or from sugar beets. The refining process pretty much removes all the flavour except the sweetness.

Not sure about the pein tong - the brown sugar bars. One source says they are totally unrefined sugar from the sugarcane or a special kind of palm.

[aznsailorboi]

now im inspired to make braised pork belly... as a matter of fact i have some at home originally intended to make cantonese roast pork since its cold outside i can air dry it without the risk of bacteriafying the meat (this is not a real word haha oh well you guys know what i mean  ) ...

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You are tempted to make roast pork and wanted to air dry it in the backyard? You plan to hang to whole pig? I don't think roasting one piece of pork would work.

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no no no not the whole pig i've done it before with just a big piece of boneless pork belly, actually i got the recipe from one of the threads in here. If I remember correctly it was Been-sook's recipe, and it goes like this... blanch pork belly in boiling water for half a minute, pat dry then season with salt and five spice powder, air dry for a few hours, i did mine in 8 hrs so the skin would be dry enough to produce that crackling blister bubbled skin when broiled. now the temp starts off high like 425 for 15 min, then 375 for 30 min then 425 again for 15 more minutes to amplify the blistered effect on the skin a little bit more. oh and you must poke holes on the meat for even cooking and this should be cooked on a rack with a pan below to catch grease and drippings.

Edited January 9, 2007 by aznsailorboi (log)

[XiaoLing]

The brown sugar can bars are good for braising too. They have a more intense flavor than plain white or brown sugar. I haven't used it in years as well because it's not as conveinent as spooning a few spoonfuls of sugar.

Hmm...I think I do have a few bars in my pantry as well. I also have pork belly, I think I might give it a go.

[aznsailorboi]

here's Ben Sook's instructions. Thanks for posting such a great recipe. :

A point of clarification: "siu yuk" is perfectly alright and a Chinese waiter would understand perfectly. Siu here means dry roasted or barbecued, as in char siu. But, the Cantonese among us would order "for yuk", or "fired meat". Indeed the pig is literally fired in a tall upright oven wherein the firebricks or flames completely surround the hanging pig/ducks/etc. An animal done this way invariably develops a crispy skin because the fat and moisture drains off in the high, dry heat.

I will present a recipe here, but be aware that there is a little "slippage" in my memory.

The rub is composed of : 1 scant tsp.5 spice powder, 3 tbsp.brown bean sauce (minsee), 1 tbsp. hoisin, 1 tsp. salt, scant tsp.sugar, 4-5 whole star anise, dash of soy sauce. Mix well and let it sit to meld the flavours.

Take a 3-4 pound piece of rind-on belly pork, dry the skin with a cloth, take a sharp fork or ice pick and prick the skin all over. Flip the meat over and deeply score the fleshy side at 1.5 inch intervals, without cutting through. Rub the sauce mixture well into the meat. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Span over a roasting pan with a wire rack and place the meat skinside up on the rack. (The idea is to let the heat circulate all around the meat). Place in oven for 15 mins., turn down the heat to 350 degrees and let cook for 45 minutes. Immediately take it of the oven. Enjoy.

Note, as with all recipes feel free to adjust the ingredients to taste. Oven temps vary, so judge accordingly. A convction oven does a marvelous job on the skin.

[XiaoLing]

That recipe sounds delicious!! Does anyone have a pic of the end result?