Malin Braised Pork
Malian Pork (Beijing Cuisine)
Pork is tied with malian grass (bastard hemp) and braised together with the pork skin. The braising broth is mixed with alum to set into a gelatin, which is sliced and served chilled for a cool, fragrant flavor.
Ingredients
Pork (preferably equal parts pork belly and pork leg, cut into chunks)
1 kg
Pork skin
300 g
Dried malin grass (soaked in boiling water to soften, used for tying meat chunks)
30 g
Cooking wine
25 g
Alum
10 g
Monosodium glutamate
a pinch
Soy sauce
250 g
Sichuan peppercorns
to taste
Star anise
to taste
Cinnamon stick
to taste
Fennel seeds
to taste
Green onion (cut into sections)
25 g
Ginger (sliced)
20 g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Soak the dried malin grass in boiling water until soft
2
Step 2
Cut the pork into long strips 6-7 cm wide along the grain, then cut into 3-4 cm chunks against the grain. Pair one lean and one fatty chunk together, then tie each bundle securely with a piece of malin grass
3
Step 3
Put Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and fennel seeds into a small cloth bag. Add the bag, pork skin, cinnamon stick, green onion, ginger, and soy sauce to a pot of boiling water. Skim off any foam when the water is about to come to a rolling boil, then add the tied pork bundles (the water should cover the meat by 3 cm). Add monosodium glutamate and cooking wine, and skim off foam again just before the water boils
4
Step 4
Move the pot to low heat and simmer until the meat is tender. First remove the meat, then continue boiling the pork skin until soft, then remove the skin and the spice bag together
5
Step 5
Skim off the floating oil from the pot, add some clean water, then stir in the alum until it is fully dissolved
6
Step 6
Bring the broth to a boil and skim off any foam. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes until meat scraps and other solids settle. Gently pour the broth over the meat chunks to let it set into a block (place in the refrigerator to set in summer)
7
Step 7
Take the meat chunks out of the mold, remove the malin grass ties, and slice the meat thinly across the grain. Place the set meat jelly on a plate, arrange the sliced meat on top, and serve
