I went over to domestic goddess, Vinny’s place two weeks ago to help with the preparations of her party.
To do braised pork or chicken wings, you can use the same seasoning. As these are adapted from watching my mother cook and of her giving hints of the recipes, I think it’s best to keep tasting while you cook. As my grandmother and mother would say “just agak agak” (Malay for guessing and making a rough estimate).
Depending on your dinner party, the amount of pork you see in the picture should serve 6-8 people. Should you lack a hyper sensitive taste bud, the key rules I’ve learnt is if it’s too salty, add some sugar and vice versa. Too sour? Add some sugar to balance out the taste.
Braised Pork/Chicken Recipe:
Make sure you get the pork belly cut to make Kong Bak Bao (扣肉包 – stewed pork buns) which is deliciously fatty, drenched in savory black sauce.
Seasoning the ingredients: (based on a vague estimation)
Pork belly (三层肉) sliced to bite size and mixed with
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 table spoon light soya sauce
grind black pepper liberally
coriander powder,
5 spice powder (五香粉）
2 star anais (八角)
6 cloves （丁香）
5 cinnamon sticks, broken apart (桂皮)
2-3 cloves of garlic crushed with skin still on.
1 teaspoon of shaoxing rice wine
Leave it to marinate for a couple of hours. (even better if you can let it sit in the fridge overnight.)
Preparation:
1. Put pot of marinated pork over the stove, add a teaspoon of oil and fry it a little.
2. Add enough water just to cover the pork and let it simmer until the pork turns soft. If it’s too salty to taste, I’d recommend adding about 1-2 teaspoon of sugar.
3. Steam the white buns and serve together with the braised pork and (if you like, a side of lettuce).
I haven’t been able to find the exact buns, so I haven’t made it yet. It looks something like this. The photo doesn’t do it justice as these pork buns are really a piece of heaven.
You can do the same with chicken wings, which is what Vinny did below: a pot of marinated chicken wings.
