Stewed Pork Belly with Star Anise

Stewed Pork Belly with Star Anise

　　In Lianzhou, stewed pork belly is not only a delicacy but also the main dish at banquets. No feast is complete without it during festivals or when entertaining guests. The best stewed pork belly in Lianzhou comes from Xingzi Town. The preparation of Xingzi stewed pork belly involves many steps, combining boiling, deep-frying, and steaming techniques. The process goes as follows: take a large piece of streaky pork with skin (commonly known as "five-layer building"), bring water to a boil, and cook the pork until it is about 80% done (it should be tender enough for a chopstick to pierce through), then remove it. Use a small bamboo skewer to prick tiny holes all over the skin, the denser the better (known as "giving it a shot"), so that the skin won’t separate from the meat during frying. This is the first boiling. While the pork is still hot, apply dark soy sauce, sweet rice wine, or brown sugar to the skin. Then place the whole piece of pork, skin side down, into a wok of oil heated to 70–80% hot and deep-fry it. Fry over low heat until the skin turns reddish-brown, then remove and drain the oil. This is the first frying. Next, put the whole fried piece of pork back into a pot of water to boil again (known as "blanching"), and continue cooking until the skin becomes soft and bubbly. Then remove the pork belly and drain the moisture. This is the second boiling. Slice the fried pork into pieces about 0.8 cm thick, and you can sandwich fried taro or arrowhead between two slices of pork. Place the slices skin side down in a bowl, arranged neatly. Then mix fermented red tofu, white sugar, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rice wine, salt, and a little water into a paste, and spread it over the pork. Place the bowl in a steamer and steam for about 20 minutes before removing. This is the first steaming. Finally, place a plate over the bowl, invert the steamed pork onto the plate so that the red skin faces upward, and a colorful, fragrant, and delicious plate of Xingzi stewed pork belly is ready to serve. (Text excerpted from *A Grand View of Lianzhou Folk Customs* by Cao Chunsheng) Xingzi stewed pork belly is a famous traditional banquet dish, characterized by its golden color. Both the taro and the pork are rich yet not greasy, soft and tender, bursting with flavor, and have the benefits of clearing heat and nourishing the skin.