Back In The Pot Pork
Adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop’s Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook
Serves 2-4, depending on how many other dishes are served
Preparation time: approximately one hour: about 40 minutes to parboil the pork belly, the remaining time slicing and stir frying rest of dish
1 piece pork belly, preferably without rind, 14-18 ounces, depending on how many you are feeding. Mine was just over 16 ounces. (see note)
3 scallions, green parts only (I won’t come into your kitchen to count)
10 garlic cloves, peeled (again, nobody’s counting)
piece of fresh ginger, size of your index fingertip, unpeeled
2 tablespoons black fermented beans, rinsed (see discussion of fermented black beans, above)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon chicken broth or water
2 fresh red chiles, sliced (I used one, as John is not crazy about pepper)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons peanut oil
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the pork belly. Water should cover the belly, so add more if necessary. Turn heat down to lively simmer. Cook until meat is cooked through. Test with a skewer: juices will run clear, not pink. Because my piece was large, I sliced in half for ease of handling. It cooked in 40 minutes.
Drain pork and allow to cool. Once cool enough to handle, trim rind, if it has one, and slice into thin pieces. You want to be able to eat with chopsticks, if, unlike me, you are coordinated enough.
Above step can be done in advance.
While pork belly is cooking, you can prepare the rest of dish.
When I stir-fry, I prep ingredients, place them in small bowls, then arrange them in the order they go into the wok. I would place them near the wok, had I somewhere to put them.
Slice green parts of scallion into fairly longish pieces.
Peel garlic cloves. If they are large, halve them. If garlic is old, you may want to have cloves to remove green germ.
Fuchsia Dunlop find unpeeled ginger more flavorful, so following her lead, I thinly slice ginger unpeeled. You can peel it, if you prefer.
Place fermented black beans in small colander and rinse well. Pat dry with paper towel. Be careful, as beans like sticking to towel. Place in small bowl.
Measure soy sauces into small bowl.
Measure chicken broth or water into small bowl.
Have the chiles ready.
Place the wok on the burner. Heat until it starts smoking (you might want to open a window or turn on your exhaust fan). Pour in about a tablespoon of peanut oil. Stand back; it may spatter. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic and ginger, stir-frying until they begin browning. Add pork, stir-frying until meat begins coloring, separating, and is quite fragrant.
Tip in the beans and soy sauces. Continue cooking, adding the broth or water. If contents of wok look dry or stick, add more water or broth.
Add chiles and scallions and give them just a couple turns; you want them barely cooked. Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil. Serve with Hand-torn cabbage with Chinkiang vinegar and plenty of rice.
Notes: My market sells pork belly with and without rind. This time the belly had rind, which was much easier to trim after parboiling. I allowed the belly to cook and cool before sliced the rind off.
Rind can be saved for soups and stews, to line terrines, or make confits.