Steamed Pork Belly with Yam

This is my mum's recipe. I've been trying to avoid making this dish because it really is very tedious... but it taste sooooo GOOD! I suggest that you make it a couple of days earlier before serving. It keeps very well in the freezer so do make a few portions and steam it anytime you have guests over. This is a traditional Chinese dish that's sure to impress!

It's hard to visualise the whole process and I'm not the best storyteller so I've included a picture tutorial to guide you through the recipe!


Steamed Pork Belly with Yam Recipe

Ingredients:
1 kg pork belly with skin on
1 large yam
1 garlic
4 small red onions
8 red dates
6 pieces of fermented red beancurd
2 tbsp of Shao Hsing wine
2 tbsp water
1 tsp of sugar (optional)

Seasoning (Mixed well)
2 tbsp 5-spice powder
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
1 tbsp pepper

Method:
1. Cut pork belly into squares roughly about 10x10cm. Skin yam and cut into 1cm thick slices

2. Blanch pork in hot water for 5 min. Remove and drain. Poke some holes on the pork skin with a fork.

3. Mix the seasoning together & rub all over the pork pieces. Rub leftover seasoning on yam slices

4. Deep fry pork pieces skin side down first for 1 minute. Turn over for another minute.

5.Remove pork from oil & let it rest.

6. Meanwhile, deep fry yam slices for 1 minute. Remove and put aside for later use.

7. Put the fried pork pieces into cold water. Leave it in water for 3 hours.

8. Meanwhile, blend the garlic, small red onion and red dates.

9. Mash the fermented beancurd and add the blended paste together. Add in the water, sugar and wine as well

10. After 3 hours, remove the pork from water. Slice the pork into 1 cm thick. As you can see, the inside should still be raw.

11. Find a suitable soup bowl that is about 15-20cm

12. Dip a slice of yam into the beancurd paste. Place it on one side of the bowl. Dip a slice of pork and place it next to the yam, skin side down. Keep alternating until your bowl is full. You should have a tight fit so that when you flip the bowl around later, the shape will retain.

13. Cover the bowl with aluminium foil and steam for 4 hours. Make sure you add hot water to your steamer in between because you are steaming on high heat.

14. When ready, take the bowl out and let it rest for 15 minutes or so. This will allow the dish to firm up so that it doesn't fall apart when you flip it over onto a serving plate.

15. Place serving plate on top of bowl and flip the bowl over quickly while holding on to the plate. Ready to serve!