Steamed Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens in an instant pot recipe: bit.ly/meicai-recipe
If you are interested in buying the Instant Pot, get it here (affiliate): amzn.to/2xgKLLa
Correction: on timestamp 2:48, I mistakenly said "rice vinegar". it was actually rice wine :)
Hakka cuisine is known for the use of a variety of dried and fermented ingredients in their dishes. This pork belly with preserved mustard greens (mei cai) is one of the signature dishes in Hakka cuisine and heartiest food in our family. It has a lot of similarity with the version that is originated from Zhejiang Province. But the main difference is the preserved vegetables. For this recipe, I used pale Hakka-style mei cai. There’s a darker version made in the Shaoxing style.
Because of various stages of preparation, mei cai tastes savory, salty, slightly sweet. With adding soy sauce and other seasoning, the juice from the mei cai infuses a lot of umami flavors into the meat when steaming. You can find mei cai in Chinese markets. Look for either the dried goods or the pickled vegetable aisles. They are either sold with small pieces in packages or a whole plant which is what I used in the video.
To prepare mei cai for cooking, wash it thoroughly to get rid of the sand and dirt, then soak it in water overnight. This will make the greens extra tender and juicy.
This dish is a bit labor-intensive and time-consuming. But it's totally worth it! I usually make a few batches and refrigerate/freeze them so I can enjoy it anytime. Lastly, cook lots of rice and serve with the dish.
For Cooking the Pork
1 lb Pork Belly with the skin on
1 star anise
1 stalk green onion
3 slices ginger
boiling water
1 tablespoon shaoxing rice wine
For Seasoning the Mustard Greens
6 ounces preserved mustard greens
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
For Seasoning the Pork
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce for rubbing the skin and pan-fry
1 tablespoon garlic minced
2 stalk green onions chopped
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon shaoxing rice wine
Music: Chill Tune by Nicolai Heidlas Music / nicolai-heidlas
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported- CC BY 3.0
2 май 2017
