Dong Bo Rou

Melt in Your Mouth Dong Bo Rou

How many of you have memories of Esquire Kitchen's Dong Bo Pork with Steamed Flower Rolls? I'm not talking about the Esquire Kitchen now but 20 years back where there was only two outlets in town ~ one in Sungai Wang Plaza and the other in Asia Jaya.When my grandparents came to visit, we would always make a trip to Esquire Kitchen. My brother and I ate nothing else but this yummy dish & we would use the last of our rolls to wipe the serving bowl clean of its sauce! Though the restaurant's menu is similar, the food just isn't the same anymore!

Another serving of Dong Bo Rou with steamed plain buns (15 Apr 2012)

Anyway, it's always been a challenge to manage pork meat and make it into something out of this world. Dong Bo Rou is a dish that requires no skills but a lot of patience. I don't own a pressure cooker so it took a whole afternoon of supervision... But, it was all worth it!

Dong Bo Rou Recipe
Ingredients:
500g pork belly, with skin (square shaped)
1 inch of ginger, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, whole without skin
4 stalk white part of shallot, about 4 inch
1 star anise

Seasoning:
1/2 cup of soy sauce
2 tbsp of dark soy sauce
4 tbsp of Shao Hsing wine
15g rock sugar (or less, if you don't like it too sweet)
1/2 cup of water

Steamed plain buns for dipping

Method:

1. Boil a pot of water. Place pork in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove pork and let it cool.
2. In a wok, add a tbsp of cooking oil, fry garlic, ginger and shallot till fragrant. Add seasoning and star anise, then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Place pork skin face down into a claypot. Add seasoning. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes.
4. Reduce to simmer and turn the pork skin face up. Simmer for minimum an hour. Gradually add more water if sauce starts to thicken. 
5. After an hour, transfer the pork into a stainless steel bowl. I used one that the pork could fit in snugly. Pour all the sauce into the bowl. Wrap tightly with heat proof cling wrap.
6. Steam for another 2-3 hours.