Braised Pork in Soy Sauce

CookBook Challenge Week - 36


This is a delicious and easy to cook meal. My mom and my grandmother has their own way of making this dish but the basics are the same; cinnamon stick, star anise, garlic and pork belly. Why pork belly? Because traditionally the lard is the one that make this dish delicious. I love to include hard boiled egg and bean curb sticks in this dish.

Ingredients:-

• 500g pork belly, keep pork whole without slicing (may use chicken)
• 2 - 3 hard boil egg, shelled (optional)
• 5 - 6 bean curb sticks (optional)

     

      For marinade:-

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp five spice powder (optional)

      For cooking:-

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 whole garlic pod/head, skin on but you may remove the papery skin
• 2 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise 
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce 
• 1 - 2 tbsp sugar (depending how sweet you want it to be)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start cooking...

 

1. Pour all ingredients for marinade into a large bowl/ pot and season pork belly in for at least 2     hours or preferably over night. Covered.

2. Heat up 1 tbsp of oil in a wok or pot or large clay pot at medium low heat. Put in marinated pork to brown. Add in whole garlic pod/head, cinnamon stick and star anise. Saute until aromatic. Pour the marinade in and keep stirring. When the bottom starts to stick or the marinade caramelized a little, pour in 1/2 cup of water and cook covered for 5 - 8 minutes.

3. Add in dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and a dash of pepper. Add remaining water, hard boiled egg and bean curb sticks and simmer until the gravy is thicken and the meat is tender. This is take about 30 - 40 minutes.

4. Before serving, adjust the taste to your liking.

5. To serve, cut pork into slices. You may add gravy to dish or return pork slices to gravy, mix it a bit and serve.

Serve with white rice and chilli... yummy :)

TIPS:

• You may also include mushrooms, bean curb and potatoes in this dish.
• This dish can be substitute with using chicken, preferably chicken pieces with skin
• Becareful not to burn the sugar
• Keep an eye on the sauce make sure it doesn't dries up
• Should the sauce be overly thick add more water
• What to do if you don't like garlic???? Still use the same amount of garlic require, remove the skin and chop them finely.