Red Fermented Tofu Pork

Red Fermented Tofu Pork

　　Cuisine: Zhejiang cuisine

　　Flavor: Salty and savory

　　Price: 40–80 RMB

　　Features: Pure fermented tofu aroma, savory with a hint of sweetness, tender and soft meat, rich but not greasy.

　　Ingredients:

　　400g pork belly, 100g cleaned Chinese broccoli, 2g decorative carrot flower (cut like chrysanthemum petals), 25g red fermented tofu sauce (made by mashing red fermented tofu blocks with its juice), 2g red yeast rice powder, 13g sugar, 20g Shaoxing wine, 10g soy sauce, 4g salt, 10g MSG, 450g stock, 15g cornstarch, 10g chicken oil, 10g scallions, 10g ginger, appropriate amount of peanut oil.

　　Preparation Method:

　　1. Clean the skin of the pork belly thoroughly, cut it into two large pieces, and boil in a pot of boiling water until just cooked (about 30 minutes, or until a chopstick can pierce through easily). Remove, then cut into 3.5cm cubes. Mix 5g soy sauce, 5g cornstarch, and 5g Shaoxing wine with some water to make a paste, brush the surface of the pork cubes evenly to give them a light yellow color, and drain off excess liquid. Trim and clean the Chinese broccoli.

　　2. Heat a pan until hot, add peanut oil and heat to 70% heat. Place the pork cubes in the pan, cover with a lid, and deep-fry until the skin turns golden-red and there’s no more sizzling sound from the oil. Pour out and drain the oil using a colander. Return the pan to the heat, add scallions, ginger, and red fermented tofu sauce, and stir-fry with the remaining oil until fragrant. Add 10g Shaoxing wine, pour in 400g stock, place a layer of bamboo grate at the bottom, then add the fried pork cubes. Add soy sauce to adjust the color, put in 10g sugar and salt, bring to a boil, cover with a ceramic plate, reduce to low heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add red yeast rice powder and continue simmering for another 20 minutes until the pork is very tender. Remove from heat, discard scallions, ginger, and bamboo grate.

　　3. In a separate pot, bring water to a boil, add an appropriate amount of peanut oil, blanch the Chinese broccoli and decorative carrot flower, then remove and drain using a colander. Heat 20g peanut oil in the pan, add Chinese broccoli, pour in 5g Shaoxing wine, add 50g stock, 3g sugar, 2g salt, 5g MSG, and 5g cornstarch, stir-fry over high heat until well mixed, drizzle in chicken oil, pour into a plastic strainer to drain off excess liquid, arrange around the edge of a glass serving plate. Then place the simmered pork cubes skin-side up in the center of the plate. Skim off the floating oil from the reserved sauce in the pot, add MSG, bring to a boil, thicken with cornstarch, and pour the sauce over the pork. Arrange the decorative carrot flower on top of the pork to finish.