MISSINGROSIE said:
JB I am going to try that pork. Love sticky pork belly. I never blanched it...just for that dish or all the time? . how do I pronounce that wine? will you spell it phonetically for me?... and is it mainly for cooking? Where do I find it?
I blanch it for any braised Chinese dish - why? Well, because every Chinese cook I ever worked with did...and I am a conformist.
I will write the steps I take below - you can do as you wish and let me know how your dish comes out! It is not so much a recipe as a guide...
The rice wine is pronounced roughly as Sh-ow-zing ('ow' as in when you stub your toe, well that is not the exact word I use when I stub my toe, but you know what I mean). If you have an Asian market near you they will have it. I once made it without the Chinese wine and substituted dry Vermouth for the wine and added a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar and it was nearly as tasty
For roughly 1 lb pork belly - skin on - cut it into cubes. I wish I'd done larger cubes so I am going to suggest 1-1/2 - 2", err on the larger end.
Place the cubed pork in a pot with water to cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about three minutes, skimming impurities and foam from the surface. Drain and rinse. Add the drained pork to a pot that is only slightly larger than will hold the pork and braising liquid...so say a pot that leaves you with only an inch or so of head room (this is helpful in trying to reduce the cooking liquid to glaze the pork without having to boil it away too long and overcook the pork).
Add a cup of Shaoxing wine, about a half cup of dark soy sauce, a quarter of a cup of light soy sauce if you have it...if you don't then add an extra bit of dark, six or eight slices of fresh ginger, one clove of garlic thickly sliced, and two or three star anise pods, a bay leaf or two and add enough water to just almost cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to something between a simmer and a very low boil and cook covered, stirring occasionally until the pork is very tender - about 1 - 1-1/2 hours. Here's where you have to make a judgement call. If the pork is tender but there is still a lot of liquid left, I would remove the pork with a slotted spoon to a bowl to reduce the liquid further before reintroducing the pork for the final glazing...otherwise you risk overcooking the pork (as I most recently did) and it will fall apart more than remaining in chunks. If the liquid has already reduced significantly then you need not do this...Regardless, add about a generous tablespoon of sugar to the liquid as you reduce it and cook it down to the consistency of a glaze - if you've removed the meat previously obviously now is the time to add it back to heat through and get coated in the sticky sauce. I have been known to violate rules and add some sesame oil to the braising liquid - I still like that though Chinese people that I know would scowl at me for cooking the oil. Likewise I have been known to add a healthy pinch - perhaps 1/8 tsp - of five spice powder to the braising liquid. I've liked both.
I serve it with plain steamed rice and steamed veg such as bok choi; it is very, very rich. Let me know if my steps are lacking or don't make sense. If you do make it I'd like to know how yours turns out.
