Jellied Pork (Yao Meat)
A classic Huaiyang cold dish with pork shank as its primary ingredient. The pork is first cured with nitrite and salt, then braised to achieve a translucent, fragrant, and tender chilled platter.
Ingredients
pork knuckle (bone removed, trimmed, and washed)
1 (4000 g)
saltpeter (for marinating)
6.5 g
coarse salt (for marinating)
65 g
traditional Yao meat brine (for cooking)
to taste
Instructions
1
Prepare the pork knuckle
Remove the bone from the pork knuckle, trim it, and wash it thoroughly. Use thin wooden skewers to evenly poke small holes all over the meat surface of the knuckle.
2
Cure the meat
Mix 6.5 g of saltpeter and 65 g of coarse salt together, rub the mixture all over the meat, then repeatedly knead and rub the meat to ensure the saltpeter and salt seep into the interior through the small holes. For 5 kg of Yao meat, the maximum amount of saltpeter used is 6.5 g; if the amount of meat increases, the amount of saltpeter should be increased accordingly. After rubbing, let it cure for about 3 days in winter, 2 days in spring/autumn, or 1 day in summer. After curing, soak the meat in cold water for 2 hours, then scrape off the saltpeter residue and impurities on the meat surface gently with a knife until the skin and meat turn white.
3
Cook the meat
After scraping clean, put the meat into a pot, pour in the traditional Yao meat brine, and turn on the heat to cook. Before cooking, use a wooden board and a heavy stone to press the meat tightly, and secure the pot lid tightly to prevent the meat from loosening after cooking. The cooking time depends on the tenderness of the meat: generally, cook to 90% doneness in winter for about 4 hours, 80% doneness in spring/autumn for about 3 hours, and 70% doneness in summer for about 2.5 hours.
4
Cool and set
After cooking, take the meat out, rinse off the oil on the surface with brine, weigh it and place it in a ceramic basin. Then skim the brine in the pot clean and pour it over the Yao meat. Use a wooden board and heavy stone to press the meat tightly again. Let it cool completely before slicing.
