Dong Por Yuk (Braised wine pork)

During one of our trips to KL, we went to eat at this very old je-char stall which has just moved to a new shop unit in Queens Park. This used to be my dad's favourite haunt many years ago and when I was younger we used to dine there on many occasions.

However, we did not order this particular dish until that day.  Hubby was hooked after that! So, I decided to look for the recipe. I searched for quite a while but couldn't find any until I saw a link to Babe in the City's site. And I was so happy to see she has the recipe!

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As I only have half the amount of ingredients required (just nice for 2 person share), I twisted them a little. If you want her version, click here. My verdict on the dish, nice and fragrant and not too sweet. The meat was tender but I should simmer longer so it will be softer. The fats were still intact and cooking longer may give it a melt-in-the-mouth feel.

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Ingredients

• 300g Pork belly with skin intact - recommended to get those with more layers of fats


• 3/4 cup Shao Xing Hua Dioa (Chinese cooking wine)


• Water - enough to cover the pork


• Dark soy sauce - enough to rub on the pork


• 1 Star anise


• Brown sugar to taste (I used 1 tbsp) or Rock sugar


• Corn flour - mixed with a little water to thicken the sauce

Method

1. Blanch the meat in hot water to get rid of the scums, then wash with tap water to clean it further. Dry the meat with paper towels before rubbing with just enough dark soy sauce to coat the meat thoroughly and let it marinade for 10 minutes. In a non-stick pan, add in some oil and sear the meat on all sides except the skin quickly. Watch the heat as the dark soy sauce will caramalised.


2. Let the meat cool down a bit before slicing them into smaller pieces (you can tie the cut meat together with a thick thread so it can maintain some form). Place meat in a pot, pour in the wine (1/2 cup) and add in enough water till it covers the meat pieces. Throw in the star anise and boil/simmer in low heat till soft.


3. In a small bowl, mix a bit of oyster sauce (1.5 tbsp) and sugar and continue to boil/simmer until the meat is really tender (around 1.5 hours) then add the remaining 1/4 up wine before stirring in the cornflour mix (I did this as I want to have the fragrant smell of the wine).


4. Stir in corn flour+water to slightly thicken up the gravy. Serve hot with plain rice or some plain mantou.

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* Some paragraphs are borrowed and edited from Babe's site.