Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Stewed Dong Po Pork Belly

This recipe is largely adapted from Chef Sam Leong’s recipe.

Last weekend, my brother and his lovely wife came for dinner at my house, I made pancakes to go with herb pork sausage, bacon and eggs.  He loves pancakes.  You must be wondering what has pancakes got to do with this dish and this Quay Po has gone crazy.  What happened was, I made Dong Po pork belly in the morning and it was my first time making the dish.  I brought it out during dinner to let everyone taste so that they can give me their feedback.  I did not expected my brother to it with pancakes but he did anyway and liked it!  I have to say he was right although I was unsure about it at first.  It was awesome with pancakes.  If it paired well with pancakes, I believe it will go well with crepe too and what about corn bread?  Mmmm, I will have to try that later, maybe come up with a Dong Po pork belly crepe party serve with crepe and corn bread with the family next weekend. This is what happens when a Kampong Chinese woman marries a Mat Salleh (Guaylo) It truly shows in our food isn't it? 

This dish is usually served with “Mantou” Chinese steam buns in most Chinese Restaurants.  Some even serve deep fry “Mantou” instead of steam ones. Needless to say, anyone would love to eat this with plain rice and no side dish necessary.  The gravy in this dish is what makes it so special.  The flavor is addictive and once you start eating, you do not want to stop haha. At least it did that to all of us that evening.  You will be surprised that the fat in the belly is actually quite tasty after long hours of stewing. It is not oily anymore but crunchy to the teeth. Don't believe me, try it just once even if you do not like fat.






Serving: 4
Ingredients:

500 gm Pork belly
5 slices of ginger
3 nutmeg (cracked)
3 star anise
20 gm lotus seeds, soaked overnight
2 medium white onion, peeled and sliced
30 gm rock sugar
1 tb thick black sauce
150ml Chinese cooking wine, (hua tiao)
350  ml Chicken stock

Method:
Cut pork belly into cubes and use the broad side of knife to pat and smoothen skin. Blanch pork belly in boiling water. Drain and pat dry, set aside.  Put all ingredients into a clay pot and fill with chicken stock.  Bring to boil over high heat and let simmer for 3 hours until pork belly is soft and fragrant.  Dish out the pork belly and place them on the serving plate.  Turn heat to medium and reduce sauce to half. Pour sauce over pork belly and serve.


28 comments:

  1. Enjoyed ur blog very much! This recipe looks wonderful!

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  2. This looks simply amazing - even though the dish is Asian-influenced, the basic preparation is very similar to something you'd find in England :) I like that your meals can represent a mix of different culinary traditions - makes it more special! (That is how the food where I grew up (Hawaii) is like...a mix of culinary traditions :)).

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  3. Hi quay po,

    thanks for dropping by :)

    wow, u have a lovely site here .. great info and really well taken photos!

    i love sam leong's food and this dong po dish really whets my appetite now ... thank goodness its lunchtime!

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  4. Ooo...another super recipe. Maybe I'll try this first since I have all the ingredients at hand.

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  5. UrMomCooks
    Thanks for your comment. Hope to see again.

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  6. Jude
    How nice of you to visit me and leave your comment. Mix culture can be challenging at times but foodwise is can be very interesting when East meet West.

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  7. Ian
    You are welcome and thanks for checking outbmy blog.I am a fan of Chef Sam Leong:D

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  8. Mmm I love a good stewed pork belly dish :)

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  9. Thanks for stumbling across my blog. Yours is full of such interesting recipes and amazing photography! I look forward to reading through so many of these posts!

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  10. WOW! Your Dong Po pork belly looks so good. Can't wait to try this recipe.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Justin,
    You are welcome. You have a great blog and I enjoyed browsing. Thanks for dropping by to check out mine and leave such a nice comment.

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  12. Ann,
    Yes try it and you will be pleased with the result:D

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  13. I have never cooked pork belly, but I have a feeling it would make my husband a happy man.

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  14. I love pork belly and your recipe and photo are amazing. Thanks for sharing.

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  15. Rita,
    Don't let your hubby knows that you cook this when you do, surprise him:D He will be a double happy man!

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  16. Susan,
    You are most welcome. It makes me happy that I can share good recipes with lots of people and meet new friends. Thanks for your visit and please come back often to check on new recipes. I will post one new recipe everyday.

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  17. hi, thanks for dropping at my blog..you sure can cook!! at first i thought 'quay po' is your name but after reading your profile, now i know why" quay po"!

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  18. Lena,
    You are welcome. Thanks for checking our who this Quay Po is:D I really appreciate your comment and hope to see you here again. Cheers!

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  19. The layers of the pork belly makes me drool!!! Lovely..

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  20. yd,
    Nice meeting you and very nice of you to leave your comment.

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  21. As a Chinese person, I think loving pork belly is just in my DNA. This looks so yummy, I will definitely have to try this soon (and maybe invite some people over so I don't eat it all by myself...eek, cholesterol!)

    Thanks for visiting my blog :)

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  22. tofugirl,
    You are welcome. Thanks for giving joy to look read your posts and enjoy the lovely pictures. You are a clever girl invite friends over to share the dish, definitely not a good idea to eat it all alone:D Hope to see you again soon.

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  23. Yum....this is one of my favorite dishes! I have such a soft spot for pork belly.

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  24. Quyen,
    Thanks for dropping by and your comment. I don't doubt you have a soft spot for pork belly, we are Asians! hehe

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  25. I love this dish! About once a year my late father (!) would cook a Chinese meal for friends and family and this was always on the menu. Ah, fond memories...

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  26. Dai Wei,
    I am so happy to hear this dish brings back fond memories of your father. When I start to think of certain foods from my childhood, memories comes back to me too:D

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