Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens
Quick answer
Meicai kourou is a Hakka Chinese dish of parboiled pork belly that is seared with soy sauce for color, then layered with preserved mustard greens and steamed for over an hour.
What makes this special
- Meicai-kourou renders pork belly fat translucent over preserved greens through prolonged steaming.
- Pork belly fat turns translucent in 60-minute steam and fully melds into the meat
- Preserved mustard greens' salty fermented aroma penetrates deep into the pork, Hakka-style
Key ingredients
Core cooking flow
- 1 Place the 700 g pork belly block in water and parboil over medium heat until the outside firms up.
- 2 Mix 3 tbsp soy sauce with 1 tbsp sugar and brush it evenly over the skin.
- 3 Slice the cooled pork belly thickly and arrange the pieces neatly in a steaming bowl.
Meicai kourou is a Hakka Chinese dish of parboiled pork belly that is seared with soy sauce for color, then layered with preserved mustard greens and steamed for over an hour. The prolonged steaming renders the fat translucent and meltingly soft, while the fermented, salty greens infuse the meat with their concentrated flavor. When inverted onto a plate, the neatly stacked slices glisten under the braising sauce. It is a centerpiece dish meant for sharing, with the sauce spooned over steamed rice to capture every layer of richness.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Control
Place the 700 g pork belly block in water and parboil over medium heat until the outside firms up.
Lift it out and cool it until it is easy to slice cleanly.
- 2Control
Mix 3 tbsp soy sauce with 1 tbsp sugar and brush it evenly over the skin.
Sear briefly in a pan over medium low heat, just until the outside darkens without burning the sugar.
- 3Prep
Slice the cooled pork belly thickly and arrange the pieces neatly in a steaming bowl.
Keep the fat layers aligned instead of piling them unevenly, so the slices invert cleanly later.
- 4Finish
Taste the 180 g preserved mustard greens, and reduce the soy seasoning slightly if they are very salty.
Spread the greens evenly over the pork so their flavor steams down into the meat.
- 5Control
Add 1 tbsp minced garlic, 20 g ginger, 2 tbsp rice wine, and 400 ml water.
Cover the bowl and steam it for 60 minutes in a steamer already producing steady steam over medium heat.
- 6Finish
Turn off the heat when a chopstick slides gently through the fat layer.
Invert the bowl carefully onto a serving plate, then spoon the sauce left in the bowl over the pork.
After the steps
Pick a recipe that fits this dish.
Continue with shared ingredients, meal pairings, or a similar method.
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