Chinese Braised Pork Belly 3
As we still had a lot of pork belly in the freezer, I decided to make CHINESE braised pork belly again with a few additions recommended by my dad.
Braised pork belly (红烧猪肉）
serving: 4
Ingredients:
550-600g pork belly
1-2 Bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 star anise
1 tsp five spice powder
1-2 clove garlic, sliced
3 stalks spring onion, sectioned
6 tbsp shaoxing wine
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar or rock sugar
1.5-2 cups water
4 hard boiled eggs, shelled
tofu knots (optional)
Method:
Cut the pork into cubes of 1 to 1.5 inch size.
heat a little oil in a pan or deep pot (like a casserole stock pot), as the pork will release some oil. Fry pork until light brown. (you might have to do it two batches depedning on how large your pan is) (ALso if there is a lot of excess oil from the pork belly, discard the excess oil but leave some to fry the garlic). Take pork belly out and set aside.
Add garlic in the middle and cook until aromatic. add bay leave, CINNAMON, star anise, and give spice powder, mix until fragrant. then Add wine, light and dark soy sauce, water and sugar. place pork belly back into the pot, Bring it all to a boil.
When the sauce boils, add the spring onion, cover and simmer until the pork softens and the sauce reduces by half (approx 45 minutes, but check every 15 mins to prevent burning and you might need to add water if it becomes to dry).
add the eggs and tofu and continue to simmer until they turn brown (another 10-15 minutes). if you like a smoother and clearer sauce, sift the garlic and spring onion away through a fine sieve. Serve hot over white rice.