Dongpo Pork Recipe ( Braised Pork Belly )

Dongpo pork is a famous Chinese dish, it is like pork belly adobo in Philippines.The general ingredients for Dongpo pork are pork belly, wine, ginger and Welsh onion; and it involves a long cooking time (2-3 hours) to give the tenderness.Eat as little of the fat as you choose. The accompanying ginger help offset the fat.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg (2.2 lb) piece pork belly


• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil


• 1 tablespoon tea leaves


• 4 stalks welsh onion or spring onions
  

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 cup water


• 8 cloves garlic, lightly crushed


• 5 slices old ginger (or 7 slices young ginger)


• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns


• 4 tablespoons soy sauce


• 2 tablespoons yellow wine (e.g. Shaoxing wine)


• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil


• 2 tablespoons sugar

Cooking Instructions:

1. Cut the pork belly into cubes (~ 4×5 cm).


2. Blanch the pork belly in a pot of boiling water for a 5 minutes and clean it with cold water.


3. Put the pork belly in the pot and cover with water. Make sure the skin is facing down. ( Important ). Bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes.


4. Heat a wok and add the sauce ingredients. Mix well and bring to a boil.


5. Add the pork and cook each surface for a few minutes over a medium heat.


6. Remove pork and drain well. Pour the remaining sauce into a small saucepan and set aside.


7. Clean and drain the wok. Heat the vegetable oil to a medium heat. Fry the pork on all sides until it is well browned, making sure the skin side is a little crispy.


8. Steep the tea leaves in hot water for a couple of minutes, remove and set aside.


9. Place the pork in the pot of water again–topping up the water if necessary.


10. Add the tea leaves and simmer for 30 minutes.


11. Place the spring onion stalks on the bottom of a steamer.


12. Transfer pork to the steamer. Steam for 2 hours, turning the pork after 1 hour (because of the long steaming time, you may need to replenish the steamer water). Serve with white steam rice. Enjoy !