Hong Siu Yuk – Shanghainese Braised Pork Belly

Hong Siu Yuk with noodles

Due to Melbourne's Stage 4 lockdown restrictions, only 1 person per household can go shopping. Honestly, I had a mini-meltdown because only MrT can go since he drives. I looove to grocery shop and always pick up stuff that's not necessarily on the shopping list (I'm constantly making shopping list). 

I armed MrT with a detailed grocery list (including meats from butcher, deli special, green leafy veg. hahaha) and just hoped for the best.

He came back with a slab of pork belly and knew I would make something delicious out of it. I figured we might as well try a different dish to our go toes Taiwanese LouRouFan or Crispy Roast Pork.

I scoured the internet for Hong Siu Yuk, a Shanghainese braised pork belly dish where the pork just melts in your mouth.

Here's what I did after combining a few Chinese youtube videos.

Ingredients

• pork belly slab (mine was maybe 400g)
• 3 cloves of smashed garlic 
  
• 1 small knob of sliced ginger (half a thumb)
• 3 spring onions, sectioned
• 1 tsp Sichuan peppers
• 2 Star anise
• 1 tsp Cloves
• 1/2 Cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp Sugar: rock/palm/raw sugar (i used palm)
• 1/2 cup Chinese Cooking Wine
• 1 tbsp Chinese Black Winegar
• 2 tbsp Light Soya Sauce
• 1 tbsp Dark Soya Sauce (i used kepjap manis)
• Oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

Blanching pork belly

• In a large heavy-based pan, add boiling hot water and whole pork belly slab
• Blanch pork belly for 5–10 mins to remove impurities and a bit of the fatty oiliness
• Remove from pan, rinse off and cut into big cubes
  
  

  

  Prepare the vegetables
  

  
  
• Add oil back to the clean pan on medium heat
  
  
  

  

  Have the dry seasoning ready
  
  

  
  
• Add the dry seasoning to the hot oil and fry for a little bit
• Add the vegetables to the pan
  
  

  

  Fry vegetables and dry seasoning for a bit
  
  

• Add the cubed pork to the pan and brown on all sides
  
  

  

  Let it fry a bit on each side before flipping them
  
  

  
  

  

  Have the seasoning ready
  
  

  
  

  

  Add seasoning and sugar, top with a bit of water
  
  

• Cover and slowly simmer 
  
  

  

  Check it occasionally and stir to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom
  
  

• Cook it covered for about an hour or 90 mins, depending how hungry you are and how much you can resist the delicious smell wafting through the kitchen. 
• Season with salt and pepper to taste
• The pork will be so so soft and melt in your mouth.
• I quickly blanched rice noodles in hot water and add the noodles to the pan, coating each strand of noodles in the reduced sauce
  
• In another pan, add some chopped garlic to peanut oil and saute some spinach
• Or you can serve this with jasmine rice.
• Hope you enjoy this!

Taiwanese Lou Rou Fan - Slow Braised Diced Pork Sauce on Rice

Lou Rou Fan - Diced Pork Sauce on Rice

I love this simple dish ever since trying it for the first time in Sydney over a decade ago. However it's not as prevalent in M-Town so I kinda forgot about it until my visit to Taipei earlier this year. It was everywhere and reminded me of its deliciousness. The pork is so flavoursome and melts in your mouth. It's not too difficult to make either, just need a pinch of patience.

LouRouFan

Ingredients:

• 500g pork belly, chopped finely
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 spring onion
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 6–8 dried shitake mushrooms - re-hydrated
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• 3 tablespoon soya sauce
• Chinese five spice powder
• white pepper
• Chinese cooking wine
• Sesame oil (optional)
• salt
• water from re-hydrating shitake mushroom
• cornstarch

Directions:

Step 1 – Thinly slice pork and cut into little vertical strips

Step 2 – Finely dice onion

Step 3 – Add pork to hot wok on medium heat, cook until water has evaporated and the pork fat is frying the meat

Step 4 – Add the onion and cook til transparent 

Step 5 – Add white parts of the finely sliced spring onion 

Step 6 – Add minced ginger

Step 7 – Add the finely diced re-hydrated
mushrooms

Step 8 – Add minced garlic

Step 9 – Add sugar to caramelise the mixture

Step 10 – Add soya sauce to the edge of the wok so it sizzles before stirring into the mixture

Step 11 – Add Chinese cooking wine, Chinese five spice powder, white pepper, water from soaking the mushrooms 

Step 12 – Transfer to pressure cooker, top up with water until mixture is completely submerged.

Step 13 –  Cook for 25 minutes under pressure, this is to ensure the flavours meld together

Step 14 – After releasing the pressure, check the sauce and add cornstarch slurry to adjust sauce viscosity, add salt to taste also add a dash of sesame oil and the green bits of spring onion

Step 15 – Serve with medium boiled eggs and some green veggie

Taiwanese 3 Cup Chicken (Samg Bui Gai)

So apparently the '3 cups' in 3 cups chicken is in reference to the quantity of soya sauce, Chinese cooking wine and sesame oil in the dish. Unless you're cooking a banquet for 100 people you just need 1 tablespoon each. Though '3 tablespoon chicken' doesn't quite have the same ring to it does it?

This was super quick to make and it was ready to eat before my rice even finish cooking. So I had to wait around smelling this aromatic dish. Not good on a hungry belly.

Ingredients:

3 Cups Chicken

• 4 chicken thigh fillets (approx 500g)
• 1 red onion, choppped
• 1 red capsicum, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp of chopped ginger 
• red chillies
• Thai basil leaves
• spring onion
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1–2 tspn cornstarch
• 1 tbsp peanut/vegetable oil

Directions:

• cut up chicken to bite size, I removed the excess fatty bits
• add cornstarch, soya sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil, ginger and garlic to chicken and mix well
• heat oil in pan/wok on medium heat
• add chopped onion and cook for a little til soften
• add chicken mixture and leave it don't stir for a few minutes
• add chopped red capsicum to pan and stir to make sure the other side of the chicken is cooked
• add red chilies, spring oil and Thai basil leaves a few minutes before serving
• the cornstarch in the marinate would thicken to a nice sauce.

Served hot with white Jasmine rice. yummm