#pork belly
A few places, like Momofuku Ssam Bar, may have popularized this idea of meat (usually pork belly) nestled between a steamed lotus leaf shaped bao (bun), but the concept of this is Fujian Chinese in origin and it’s been around for awhile. In Taiwan, a similar version is lovingly called the Taiwanese hamburger. It makes sense because Taiwan, is right across the sea from Fujian and experienced a huge influx of Chinese immigration during WWII & the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Three important items for these ‘burgers: steamed lotus leaf buns 荷葉包, spicy pickled mustard greens (post forthcoming) and pork belly. I have seen vegetarian AND vegan friendly options, but I plan on creating this for a future post! As for the buns, this is so embarrassing to admit, I have not been able to successfully make steamed buns from scratch like my grandma so I do not have a recipe listed below. Fortunately, you can find steamed buns at most Asian grocery stores.
Braised Pork Belly
For 4 servings:
- 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 lb. pork belly (Duroc or Berkshire), cut into 4 strips
- ½ c. Shaoxing wine
- 2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 4 star anise pods
- 2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp. fennel seeds
- ½ oz. yellow rock sugar
- 2 c. water (or enough to cover the pork)
Accoutrements: steamed buns sliced cucumber, cilantro, steamed buns, ground peanuts, spicy mustard greens
Heat vegetable oil over medium heat in a dutch oven. Add green onions and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork belly and cook until all edges are seared. Remove pork belly and add the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add pork and reduce heat to low. Cook on low heat for 2 hours, occasionally flipping the pork.
To serve, sandwich pork between steamed buns with cilantro, cucumber and ground peanuts.
Pork belly: an experiment in deliciousness
During the week my meals are pretty lame, but that’s by design. Weekday meals keep me fueled, but weekend meals feed my soul. Otherwise y’all, I’d be getting down with high octane deliciousness all the time, trust. I tend to watch the Food Network a lot, mostly because I’m fascinated by the dishes expert-level chefs can whip up. I learn a lot. Perhaps in another life I went to culinary school and…
Fig, pork belly and blue cheese crème fraîche from one of my most favorite spaces in Los Angeles, Superba Food and Bread.
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Foxys Fried Rice
While I’m putting together the post and photos for the pokepuffs I thought I’d post a quick recipe for some fried rice! A staple in so many animes it’s a wonderful dish as a main or a side.
♡Ingredients♡
Left over parboiled rice ~ 2 cups
Butter ~ 1 tablespoon
Oil ~ enough to cover bottem of frying pan
Garlic ~ 3 cloves
Pork belly ~ cubed as much as you want!
Soy sauce ~ at least half a cup more for flavoring
Carrots ~ 2 diced
Peas ~ half a cup
Eggs ~ 2
~ now please keep in mind you can have any ingredient in your fried rice! These are just what are commonly seen and what I have a taste for but experiment!~
♤Steps♤
1) over medium heat melt butter and heat oil in a deep frying pan
2) carefully add cubed Pork belly to the pan, oil may crackle but that’s fine! Saute until lightly browned. Add garlic and stir for a quick 20seconds
3) move pork belly to one side of the pan and crack both the eggs on the other. Let them fry until whites are cooked but don’t let the yolk get hard! Once the whites are cooked mix with the pork belly and garlic.
4) add peas and carrots and saute gently for about 2 minutes make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Keep on medium heat.
5) add rice! Mix everything together.
6) slowly add Soy sauce to the mixer tasting as you go. It’ll get darker in colour and that’s fine! Check out the picture below for reference
7) serve warm and enjoy!
◇Foxy tips◇
I like a sunny side up egg on top when making this for breakfast but add any meat or veggies as you see fit!
Also if you don’t use parboiled rice that’s fine any rice works! It’s just a preference for taste on my end.
If you don’t have left over rice make the rice at least an hour or two ahead of time so it drys a little. Leftover rice frys better then fresh.
This recipe was so good.
Ribs and waffle fries at Smoque ‘n Bones
The food here was good but not amazing in my opinion. My favorites were the ribs and potato salad, although the ribs were too charred for my liking. Stockyards is still my favorite place for BBQ in Toronto.
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Tuna kinilaw, pork belly, beef cheek, chicken adobo and purple yam flan at Lamesa
I was pleasantly surprised with how good the food was here. Wasn’t sure what to expect as I’d never had Filipino food before, but everything was cooked perfectly. The beef cheek was the best, extremely tender. The flan for dessert was also amazing, the flavour was really unique. Sweet but not overpowering with a very soft melt in your mouth texture.
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Food of the day: Pork Bone Base Ramen
Got this at Rajin Ramen, I would say one of the more outstanding ramen places in toronto. The soup base is extremely rich, so for those that prefer a lighter flavor, this is not somewhere you would go. But for people like me who enjoy a savoury dish, or in this case bowl, I would strongly recommend this place! One downside would be the meat is not cooked as nicely as some other places, but all in all a great place
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I’ve written about Wu Liang Ye, New York City’s best Chinese restaurant not in Chinatown, before here. But after a return visit last week, our first time back in over three years since moving to Shanghai, I wanted to post an update, which is… THEY’RE JUST AS GOOD AS EVER!
I went for dinner with colleagues from China and they were equally impressed with the flavors and authenticity of each dish. Here’s a look at some of what we had, and I say “some” as many seafood dishes were not put on the table, but served directly to our plates before I could snap a pic, like their wonderful shrimp and asparagus with garlic.
Appetizer combo with the classic Sichuan cold beef trio of tripe, brisket and tendon…
My go-to dish at WLY, razor clams with a Sichuan peppercorn & scallion vinaigrette…
My fellow diners had never seen a dish like this before and were equally impressed by its taste and presentation…
Double cooked “bacon” with hot peppers…
Shredded chicken in spicy garlic sauce…
Sauteed beef filets in spicy tea sauce…
A tongue-numbing mapo tofu…
And “Ants on a Tree”, which is stir-fried cellophane noodles with minced pork…
While they sell beer, Wu Liang Ye will allow BYOB for special occasions, like this bottle of Moutai that arrived from Beijing with our guests that morning…
With all the changes we’ve seen across this city since coming home, it’s nice to find that things have remained the same here at Wu Liang Ye!
WU LIANG YE
36 W 48th St.
NY, NY 10036
212-398-2308
