Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens

Quick answer

Total time: 125 min
Level: Hard
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 8

About this dish

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.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
pork belly	700	g
preserved mustard greens	180	g
soy sauce	3	tbsp
sugar	1	tbsp
ginger	20	g
minced garlic	1	tbsp
rice wine	2	tbsp
water	400	ml

Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Control

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.
2

Control

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.
3

Prep

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.
4

Finish

Taste the 180 g preserved mustard greens for saltiness and gently squeeze out surface moisture.

Spread them evenly over the prepared pork.
5

Control

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.
6

Finish

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.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Meicai-kourou renders pork belly fat translucent over preserved greens through prolonged steaming.
Finish cue: Turn off the heat when a chopstick slides gently through the fat layer.
Avoid this: Sear briefly in a pan over medium low heat, just until the outside darkens without burning the sugar.