Rising Step by Step Swastika Braised Pork
A festive braised pork dish featuring a pagoda shape filled with spicy salted vegetables and dried radish, symbolizing rising step by step.
Story
This elaborate dish is traditionally served during the holidays for its auspicious meaning. The pork belly is sliced, layered with a savory filling of salted vegetables and dried radish, and then steamed until tender. It is often arranged with broccoli and drizzled with a rich sauce for a celebratory presentation.
Ingredients
Pork belly
500g
Spicy salted vegetables
280g
Dried radish
100g
Light soy sauce
to taste
Oyster sauce
to taste
Dark soy sauce
a few drops
Ginger
a piece
Green onion
a section
Cornstarch slurry
to taste
Oil
to taste
Broccoli
Instructions
1
Step 1
Prepare the ingredients. Soak the dried radish in advance.
2
Step 2
Cut the dried radish into small granules, and chop the salted vegetables a bit finer. If you have preserved mustard greens, you can use them; Yezi took the easy way out and bought spicy salted vegetables directly.
3
Step 3
Place the skin side of the pork in the pan and scald it until golden yellow. I have still simplified the process; for better-looking skin, you can marinate the meat with dark soy sauce in advance, then fry it, which will result in a better color.
4
Step 4
Add an appropriate amount of water to the pot, add the scallion knot, add an appropriate amount of dark soy sauce, and add the pork belly to cook for about half an hour. If you want the meat to have a better color, you can add a little fried sugar color; the method for making sugar color is introduced by Yezi in the 'Special Braised Pork' post on the WeChat Official Account 'Yezi's Little Kitchen'.
5
Step 5
Remove the meat and cool it in cold water, then place it on a flat plate, press it flat with a heavy object on top, trim it, then put it in the refrigerator to chill until hard, or freeze it for a short time until hard. Yezi omitted these steps due to time constraints when making it, so the finished product looks uncomfortable no matter how you look at it; friends who pursue perfection should not omit these steps.
6
Step 6
Cut in a circle, do not cut all the way through.
7
Step 7
After cutting, it looks like this when restored.
8
Step 8
Cut the scraps into cubes.
9
Step 9
Add an appropriate amount of oil to the pot to sauté the minced ginger and garlic until fragrant.
10
Step 10
Add the scraps and stir-fry to render the fat.
11
Step 11
Add the salted vegetables and dried radish and stir-fry, add an appropriate amount of light soy sauce and stir-fry evenly. Because the salted vegetables are quite salty, do not add salt.
12
Step 12
Secure the outermost edge of the cut pork belly with a toothpick, then hold it in your hand as shown in the picture, push it down layer by layer, add the stir-fried filling inside, fill it generously, and pack it tight.
13
Step 13
Place in a plate and steam for one hour to one and a half hours. It tastes better if steamed longer, so it is recommended to steam it a bit longer.
14
Step 14
After steaming, pour out the liquid inside into the pot, add an appropriate amount of light soy sauce, oyster sauce, a few drops of dark soy sauce, a little water starch, and mix evenly.
15
Step 15
Arrange the blanched broccoli around the sides and drizzle with the sauce to serve.
