Braised pork belly with garlic and chinese shitake mushroom in dark soy sauce with eggs

Braised pork belly with garlic and chinese shitake mushroom in dark soy sauce with eggs, originally uploaded by yongtze.

This is my favourite Hokkien food, also called "Hong Bak" or "Loh Bak". Unlike delicate Cantonese food and refined Teochew food, it is just good old Hokkien peasant food to go with lots of rice. It will taste even better after 1 or 2 days.

Hokkien people in Malaysia are originally from the Fujian province on the southeastern shore of China. There are more information about Hokkien food in Malaysia, Malaysian Chinese and Malaysia Chinese food on the web.

Serves 6-8 with rice

• 1 kg pork (shoulder or belly), cut in 4cm x 4cm cubes
• 6-8 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 whole big garlic (about 12-14 cloves), cloves separated with skin on
• 4 dried Chinese shitake mushrooms
• dark soy sauce
• soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon of five-spice powder
• salt
• peanut oil

1. Soak the shitake mushrooms in boiling-hot water for about 30 minutes or until they become soft. Cut the mushrooms into quarters and set aside.

2. In a big frying-pan/wok, heat up about 3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat, add the garlic cloves cook for about 20 seconds. Turn up the heat to high, add the pork and half teaspoon of salt, quickly stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add about 4-5 tablespoons of dark soy sauce and 3-4 tablespoons of soy sauce and keep stir-frying for another 1-2 minutes. Check seasoning. You should be able to taste the dark soy sauce and it should be slightly saltier than normal. You can adjust the amount of dark soy sauce and soy sauce according to your liking.

4. Add the shitake mushrooms and the hard-boiled eggs. Pour in enough water to cover everything. Add the five-spice powder as well. Check seasoning: it is okay if it doesn't taste salty enough but it shouldn't be bland. Bring it to boil and turn the heat down to low. Gently simmer for at least 1 hour to 1.5 hours. The liquid should reduce to about two-thirds or half of the original amount. Serves with rice.

If you can't finish it, keep it in the fridge and re-heat the next day or even a few days it should taste even better. Keep the leftover sauce in the freezer, you can use it when you cook this "loh bah" next time it will improve the taste.

Comments

[Wee Siang Teo]

Hi. YongTze. I am your junior in Chinese High School, a year younger than ur brother yongching. i m studying in aus as well, at UNSW in Sydney. I was searching for the recipe for making braised pork, and surprisingly came to ur blog. Nice to meet you.

Wee Siang

[YongTze]

Hi there. Nice to meet you.You've been enjoying the summer holiday? Hope you find the recipe and the blog useful. Good luck with your studies too =)

[Chinese Traditional Recipes]

Wow, the cooking method of this dish is great, I'll try it later and I hope it tastes the way it look. Thanks for sharing!

[Yong Tze]

Thanks! Let me know how it turns out. Nice website you've got there.