Sunday 9 July 2017

Teochew loh bah (braised pork belly)

When my friend’s mother told me that she will teach me how to cook loh bah I thought she meant the Penang style lobak (5 spice meat roll). What she meant was the Teochew style of braising pork belly. Here I will show you 2 ways to cook it.

Ingredients



1 piece of pork belly






Marinate
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp sugar and some white pepper

First method as taught by my friend’s mother



Put all the marinate ingredients onto the pork







Mix thoroughly and leave in the marinate for 1 – 2 hours







Put ½ tsp five spice powder and some white pepper into a dry wok and stir over low heat until aromatic.






Put in the pork and fry until the pork is slightly brown







Add in the marinate sauce and some hot water to cover half the pork



Cover and cook on low heat until pork is tender. Remember to turn the pork frequently so that both sides are evenly coated. Do not let the liquid dry up otherwise the meat will be hard. Add more water if necessary. If desired, add some Shaoxing wine a few minutes before removing from the pan.

I find there is a lot of scum in the gravy using this method. Also you have to constantly keep an eye on the meat.


My short cut method



Blanch the pork to remove the scum







Mix all the marinate ingredients and stir thoroughly
   






Put the pork into the marinate and evenly coat it







Leave in the marinate for 1 – 2 hours







Put ½ tsp five spice powder and some white pepper into a dry wok and stir over low heat until aromatic.






Put in the pork and fry until the pork is slightly brown







Add in the marinate sauce and some hot water to cover half the pork






Transfer the pork to a slow cooker and cook until meat is tender. Remember to turn the pork a couple of times so that both sides are evenly coated with the sauce.





When the pork is tender, remove from the pot and let it cool







Slice the pork and place on a serving platter. Heat up the sauce and pour over the meat before serving. 





Using this method, the gravy is cleaner without any scum

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