Dad On The Loose

Two days ago, my dad made a surprising announcement. He was going to cook for the family! Now that is news indeed! My father doesn’t cook. The only time he can be found helping in the kitchen is during Chinese New Year, when he gets “enlisted” by my mum to squeeze out the juices from the radishes, carrots and all the sweet preserved vegetables and dry them out for the “yu shang loh hei”. He declared he was going to cook “dong bo ruo”. I’ve never heard of the dish, at least not by that name. He said it was a pork belly dish...

Ah… I see… I was beginning to understand. I think he’s been craving pork belly – something my mum avoids cooking nowadays, for health reasons – fat, cholesterol etc. Maybe he figured the only way he was going to get to eat some was to cook it himself!

So today was “D-day”. And he asked if I wanted to document the event for my blog. So, I stood with camera in hand as he manned the stove…

It’s actually a very simple dish to cook – all of 5 ingredients only: pork belly meat, lots of ginger, spring onions, dark soy sauce and ShaoXing Hua Tiao Jiu (Chinese wine).

And once you cut through the to-ing and fro-ing of conversation between my mum and dad, the cooking procedure is equally simple...

dad finishes pounding ginger with pestle and is about to place it in the pot with the wine and dark soy sauce...
mum: "I think you should fry the ginger first, without oil, then will be more fragrant..."
dad: gives mum a "I'm the chef here" kind of look, and proceeds to put ginger into pot.
mum: "the pork also, fry it first in the wok without oil, then it will taste better, more fragrant and tasty..."
dad: "ya, there are 2 ways to cook this - one is to deep fry the pork first before braising... then there is this way..."
and proceeds to put pork belly into stock pot.
mum: "no, you should fry the pork first, will taste better..."
dad: "hai-ya, I know what I'm doing..."
and after 35 years of marriage, mum knows better than to say more... she waits patiently to enjoy the dish...

And in plain English... quickly blanch the pork belly in boiling water to rid it of smells and any gaminess. Optional but a good idea: pat the meat dry and place in a “dry” wok (i.e. no oil) and saute briefly to bring out the flavors of the pork. “Smash” the ginger with a pestle. Optional but also a good idea: briefly “dry saute” in a wok (separate from the pork). Next, pour a whole bottle of the Chinese wine into a stock pot. Add enough dark soy sauce to taste. Add the ginger. View image Bring to a light boil, and add the pork belly. Leave to simmer and braise for about 2 ½ hours to 3 hours, or until the meat reaches that “melt-in-your-mouth” texture, yet not losing its shape and bite.

We served it today with braised mui choy (wind-dried chinese cabbage).

I can’t comment on the taste of the pork as I’m very queasy about pork bellies and all fatty meats in general. The mui choy was good though! The family certainly looked as though they thoroughly enjoyed the pork belly – especially my dad.

Copyright © 2003 Renee Kho. All rights reserved.
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