Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens

After 4 months of no activity, I am glad to be back in action again. Cooking has been quite challenging with a baby crawling all over the house. My son has just celebrated his 1st birthday and am glad I now have some time on my own while he is in a daycare. Soon, I will be returning to work. Hence, I am now cooking like a storm and freeze some dishes for busy days ahead. The Chinese style Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens is in my cooking list this week. 

If you grew up in a Chinese family, you probably know this dish. It's called Mui Choy Khau Yoke, a traditional Hakka meat dish known with its rich fatty flavour, saltiness from preserved mustard greens and sweetness from sweet soy sauce. It is served in many Chinese restaurants here in Canada and our family's favourite dish.

Roasted Pork Belly

I grew up in a restaurant environment. My mother runs an Indonesian-Chinese restaurant in Indonesia and she serves this dish every Sunday. By noon, the Mui Choy Khau Yoke will be sold out. Making this dish is quite troublesome as the traditional method requires you to deep-fry the pork belly, then steam the pork slices with other ingredients for 3 to 4 hours. Personally, I do not have the time to spend hours in the kitchen, not when my 1 year old toddler running around the house (that's the reason why I have not updated this blog for quite a while). Cooking in the kitchen at my own time is now a precious moment. Since my son starts to crawl, I no longer have the time to cook and take notes of every recipe in the kitchen. My son is now in a daycare so I thought of cooking this dish and feature it on our blog.

In this post, I have revised my mother's traditional recipe to adapt to our busy lifestyle. Instead of making crispy pork belly from scratch, I buy a readily roasted pork belly from a Chinese grocery store. Also, I opt for braising this pork belly dish in a slow cooker instead of steaming for 3 to 4 hours. I could have used those hours to run errands and by the time I got home, voila! A delicious dish perfect for a family dinner. It is so moist and tender that it melts in your mouth. Best served with a bowl of steamed rice. I am confident that my mother approves this dish and be proud of me.

From left: Dried shrimps, shitake mushrooms, preserved mustard greens, dried squids

Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 8 - 10

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs of roasted pork belly, cut into 1 cm thickness
• 1 bunch of Chinese preserved mustard greens
• 9 dried shitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup dried shrimps
• 1/4 cup dried squids, shredded
• 4 tbsp cooking oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 1/2 cups water
• ground white pepper
• 1/2 cup Chinese cooking wine

METHOD: 

1. Soak 1 bunch of Chinese preserved mustard greens for 2 hours. Rinse thoroughly and cut the greens into 1 cm length
2. Meanwhile, soak dried shitake mushrooms with boiling water for 20 minutes. Once soft, slice mushrooms thinly
3. In a separate bowl, soak dried shrimps and squids for 20 minutes. Rinse 
4. In a small bowl, combine light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), chinese cooking wine and water. Mix the sauce well with a spoon 
5. Heat up cooking oil in a pan. Once hot, saute minced garlic till golden brown
6. Add in the preserved mustard greens, dried shrimps, squids and shitake mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes or until fragrant
7. Mix in the sauce, stir and cook till wait. Lower heat and simmer for another 15 minutes
8. In a slow cooker, arrange roasted pork belly slices evenly
9. Add in the cooked ingredients with its sauce and cook for 3 hours