Here’s a great pork belly dish that I suspect you could also make with a more lean cut of pork. Of course, no matter what, pork belly will make it taste better. The spice bouquet really makes this dish, and the star anise and tangerine peel really give it a nice flavor.
There are many versions of this dish across various recipes, but they’re all quite similar. If you don’t have each dark and light soy sauce, just regular soy sauce will work.
Enjoy!
What you’ll need for the pork belly
- 1 lb pork belly, cut into about 0.75-inch pieces
- 1T neutral oil
- 2T palm sugar, raw sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 or 3 shallots, medium-coarsely diced
- 8 medium mushrooms, roughly chopped (use shiitake or another strongly flavored mushroom for best results)
- 0.25 cups + 1T sake
- 2T tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 3T tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1.25 cups hot water
- 1 hardboiled egg for each serving
What you’ll need for the spices
- 5 cloves
- 3 star anise
- 2 or 3 slices of fresh ginger (no need to peel)
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns (use regular ones if you don’t have Sichuan)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1t five-spice powder (you can just put this in the spice bag, too, even though it’s powder)
What to do
Gather the spices and put them in a spice bag or tie them up in cheesecloth. Set aside. Then peel the hard-boiled eggs and set them aside.
Heat the oil in a wok or large frypan over medium heat, then add the pork belly, stir frying it for a few minutes. Scrape the pork belly into a plate and return the work to low heat and add the sugar. Cook the sugar until it just melts, then add the diced onions. Fry for a minute on the lower heat, then turn up the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms, frying them and the onions for about 2 minutes.
Return the pork to the wok and add the sake, soy sauce(s) and water. Bring it to low boil, adding the spices and hard-boiled eggs. Reduce the heat and cook everything at a low simmer for about 45 – 60 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Right before serving, return the meat to a low boil for a few minutes to thicken up the sauce a bit. Then remove the eggs and slice them in half, lengthwise.
Dish piping hot over rice, adding the egg halves to each bowl before serving.
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