Good afternoon, dear friends
Heheh, I am a Hakka by birth but grew up not speaking the Hakka dialect at all…as my late mother spoke only Cantonese, and I ended up speaking like a Cantonese!
Well, as the name of this dish goes, it is of Hakka origins and it is really easy to prepare. It tastes even better the next day and you can have this delicious dish with plain, hot rice or over some cooked egg noodles/kway teow/longevity noodles (that have some fragrant fried onion or shallot oil, a tablespoon of soy sauce, a tablespoon of thick soy sauce, and a good splash of sesame oil mixed into).
I usually make a double batch of this recipe – where half the fried pork can be served as a dish for dinner, and the other half is braised with the Wood’s Ears Fungus and Preserved Bean Curd (Nam Yue) to be eaten the next day for dinner.
*
A bottle of Fermented Red Beancurd on the left
*
Ingredients
1 Kg Pork Belly, divided into 2 portions (1 with skin on, the other without)
3 to 5 pieces of Wood’s Ear Fungus, soaked in water for 1 hour, cleaned and cut into 1-inch squares
2 tbsps oyster sauce
* optional – 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 cups water
cornstarch-water mixture for thickening the sauce
salt and sugar to taste
Marinade -
4 pieces fermented red beancurd cubes (Nam Yue)
Juice from pounding 8 shallots and 8 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of white pepper
1 tbsp salt
6 tbsps of corn starch
* optional – juice from 3-inch knob of ginger
Enough oil for deepfrying pork
Method -
1) Divide the ingredients for marinating into 2 portions.
2) Wash pork and wipe dry. Put the pork with skin and without skin into separate bowls. Cut them into 1-inch cubes or bite sizes.
3) Add marinade and rub pork pieces thouroughly for a good 5 minutes. Set aside for 2 hours (keeping overnightin the fridge is even better).
4) Just prior to frying, rub the pork cubes to mix the marinade properly again.
4) In a wok heated with sufficient oil, deep fry in batches the pork cubes until they are golden brown and cooked through.Remove from oil. Set those without skin aside as they are to be served immediately and eaten just like that. Delicious and crispy.
5) For the other portion of fried pork with the skin, combine the pork with the Wood’s Ear Fungus, 2 cups water and the oyster sauce in a pot or casserole.
6) Bring the sauce to a boil, lower heat to small and simmer for about 40 minutes until the pork meat is soft enough. Be sure to stir in occasionally to prevent burning at the bottom.
7) Adjust the taste and colour of the sauce according. Thicken with the cornstarch solution.
8) Serve with hot cooked rice the next day.
Bon Appetit!