← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 800 g pork belly slab, skin on
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, to rub the skin
• 600 g taro (yam), peeled, cut into 1 cm slices
• 500 ml oil, for frying
• 3 cubes red fermented beancurd (nam yu), mashed
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced
• 3 Shallot, minced
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 1½ tbsp Sugar
• ½ tsp Chinese five-spice
• 125 ml Water
• 1 tsp cornflour, mixed with 2 tbsp water (optional)
• 1 Spring onion, chopped, to garnish (optional)

Method

1. Put the pork belly in a pot of boiling water and simmer for 20 min. Drain, prick the skin all over with a fork and pat completely dry, then rub the skin with the dark soy.
2. Heat the oil in a deep wok over medium heat. Lower the pork in skin-side down, cover with a splatter guard and fry for 5–6 min until the skin is blistered and deep brown. Lift out and plunge it into cold water for 10 min so the skin wrinkles.
3. Fry the taro slices in the same oil in batches for 3–4 min until lightly golden at the edges. Drain.
4. Pour off all but 1 tbsp oil and fry the garlic and shallots over medium heat for 1 min. Stir in the mashed beancurd, wine, soy, dark soy, sugar, five-spice and water and simmer for 1 min.
5. Cut the pork into 1 cm slices. Dip each pork and taro slice in the sauce and arrange them alternately, skin-side down, in a heatproof bowl. Pour over the remaining sauce.
6. Steam over medium-high heat for 1½ hours, topping up the steamer with boiling water, until the pork is very tender and the taro soft.
7. Pour the juices into a pan and, if you like, thicken with the cornflour slurry. Invert the bowl onto a plate, pour the sauce over and scatter spring onion.

Tips

• Raw taro can make your hands itch; wear gloves or oil your hands while peeling.
• Contains soy and Shaoxing wine (wheat). It reheats beautifully by steaming, so make it a day ahead for a party.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

What To Cook Today The Meatmen