Braised pork belly with Wood ear fungus

 

This porky dish doesn't need much preparation, just let it simmer to cook till the meat is tender.  The preserved bean curd ~ 'Nam Yue' adds flavour to the rather bland but crunchy wood ears.  For more information regarding the nutrients and goodness of wood ear fungus,  please check it out  'here'.

You can substitute pork with chicken if you want a halal version of this dish.

Ingredients

• 50 gm wood ears fungus/'muk yi'
• 450 gm pork belly, cut into chunks
• 8 pips garlic, crushed with skin intact
• 2  tsp Nam Yue, mashed into a paste
• 2  tsp sugar
• 2  tsp light soya sauce
• 1/4 tsp dark  soya sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2  tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1  tsp cornflour + 1 Tbsp water to thicken
• Spring onions to garnish

Preparation

1. Marinate the pork belly with the nam yue/preserved beancurd paste and sugar, set aside for about 2 hours.
2. Soak the wood ear fungus in water till soft.  Cut off the hard stem, then cut into strips.
3. Saute the crushed garlic with some oil till fragrant.  Toss in the the marinated pork.  Stir-fry for a while and add in the wood ear fungus.
4. Add in 1 cup of water, sugar, the light and dark soya sauces and let it simmer till the meat is cooked through.
5. Fine tune to taste and add in the cornflour mixture to thicken,
6. Turn off heat and mix in the Shaoxing wine.
7. Dish out and garnish with chopped spring onions.
8. Serve hot with rice.