Mui Choy with Pork Belly 梅菜扣肉

Bewarned....this is not an easy dish to prepare but tasted so sinfully good! And make sure to cook more rice to go with the addictively savoury sauce! I mentioned not easy to prepare as I've braised the pork belly first followed by steaming it for over an hour. This method yield a tender and melts in the mouth texture. If you can't bother to steam it, cut the pork belly in smaller sizes and braise it longer over low heat. 

ref. from dreamersloft with modifications

Ingredient

• 1 slab 500gm pork belly
• 200gm sweet mui choy 甜梅菜
• 200gm salted mui choy 咸梅菜
• 40gm ginger, minced
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 30gm rock sugar, crushed
• 1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 600ml broth from cooking the pork belly

Method

1. Trim off the stem of the mui choy. Rinse thoroughly (3-4 times)to remove excess salt and sand. Soak for 1 hour and rinse again. Squeeze dry and cut into small pieces. Set aside.
2. Rinse pork belly. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in pork belly and simmer (covered) over medium low heat for 25 mins. Carefully remove the pork belly from the pot and submerge it in a bowl of icy water. 
3. Pat dry the pork belly. Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok. Fry the pork belly till golden brown on all sides. Cover the wok while frying as it splatter a lot!! Remove the fried pork belly and submerge in cool water for 20 mins. When the pork belly is cool enough to handle, cut into slices. Add in 1 tbsp dark soy sauce and 1 tsp sugar, marinate for 30 mins. 
4. In a dry wok, add in chopped mui choy and fry till dry and fragrant. Remove and set aside. 
5. In the same wok, add in 2 tbsp oil. Add chopped ginger and garlic, saute till fragrant. Add in mui choy and fry briefly. Add in marinated pork belly and fry for a minute.
6. Add in broth and seasoning. Bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer (covered) for 45 mins.
7. Preheat a steamer. Carefully remove the pork belly from the wok and arrange it in a deep casserole. Ladle the mui choy and gravy over the pork belly. Cover the casserole with a foil.
8. Steam over medium low heat for 1.5 hours. Cool completely before storing. Allow the dish to be served the next day to allow the flavours to develop. To serve, scoop an appropriate portion and steam till heated through.