Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetables
梅菜扣肉
Hakka classic featuring layers of pork belly steamed with preserved mustard greens until melt-in-mouth tender. An elegant dish where rich pork fat melds with tangy preserved vegetables in perfect harmony.
Servings
3-4 people
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
120 minutes
Spice Level
Not Spicy
Ingredients
Instructions
Put pork belly with skin in a pot, add ginger slices, add water and cook for about 15 minutes until the pork belly is fully cooked.
Remove, while hot, poke some small holes in the pork skin.
Use dark soy sauce to evenly color the meat, then let it dry.
Heat oil in a pan, oil should be a little more, enough to cover the pork skin.
Put the pork skin side down in the hot oil, pan-fry on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, remember to cover the pan in time, press the lid tightly throughout.
Note: When frying the pork skin, you must cover the pan in time, otherwise oil can easily splatter.
Turn off heat, wait for the pan temperature to drop, then remove the pork belly.
Let the pork belly cool, cut into even 8mm thick slices.
Mix dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, and white pepper well to make seasoning sauce.
Pour the seasoning sauce over the meat slices, also pour between the meat slices, let marinate for a while.
Soak preserved mustard greens in clean water to soften, remove and drain, then chop finely.
Heat oil in a pan, add minced ginger and minced garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.
After the preserved mustard greens are fragrant in the pan, add bay leaves and star anise and stir-fry.
Pour in the meat marinade sauce, simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Turn off heat, remove the bay leaves and star anise.
Arrange the marinated meat slices neatly in a bowl with the pork skin side down.
Spread the cooked preserved mustard greens evenly on the meat slices, then add the bay leaves and star anise that were just removed.
Steam in a steamer for 1 and a half hours.
Take out the preserved mustard greens braised pork, remove the bay leaves and star anise from the surface.
Pour the sauce from the preserved mustard greens braised pork into another bowl.
Add water starch to the preserved mustard greens braised pork sauce, cook until thick.
Take a plate, place it on top of the bowl containing the preserved mustard greens braised pork, quickly flip over.
Remove the bowl containing the preserved mustard greens braised pork, pour the thick sauce over it.
Sprinkle with a little chopped green onions.
- When boiling the pork belly, don't forget to turn it over from time to time.
- Be sure to prick small holes in the skin of the pork belly, which will make it easier to absorb flavor and also make it more fluffy when frying.
- When frying the pork skin, be sure to cover the pan lid and be careful of oil splattering. Hold the lid down throughout the process, and after turning off the heat, wait until it cools before opening the lid.
- The amount of dark soy sauce used for coloring the pork belly should be determined according to the actual amount of pork belly used.
- After steaming the braised pork with preserved vegetables, it's best to let it sit overnight before eating, which will make it more flavorful.