Name: Chef Soon’s Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings as a main dish or 16 to 18 servings as part of a multicourse meal
Cuisine: Hakka
Ingredients: 3 thin slices fresh ginger, lightly crushed; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; ¾ teaspoon grated orange peel, orange part only, or to taste; ½ cup Chinese rice wine (shaoxing) or dry sherry; 1 tablespoon oyster sauce; 2 ounces brown slab sugar (a 2½ -by-1-inch piece), or 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar; ¼ cup hoisin sauce; 1 piece boneless pork belly with skin (2 to 2½ pounds), about 1½ inches thick; 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar; 1 tablespoon salt; 1 teaspoon five-spice powder; 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce or additional all-purpose soy sauce; ½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns or white peppercorns; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 3 cups chicken broth, homemade or purchased; 1 tablespoon minced shallots; 1 teaspoon fennel seeds; 1 cinnamon stick (3 inches long); 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or as needed; 1 cardamom pod, crushed (optional); 1 whole clove; 2 tablespoons cider vinegar; 1 package (1 pound) preserved mustard greens; 7 cups water; Thin orange slices for garnish; 1 star anise

Preparation info

Makes
8 to 10
servings as a main dish

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Hakka Cookbook

By Linda Anusasananan

Published 2012

About

Chef Yong Soon, originally from Malaysia, created this mouthwatering party-sized version of the Hakka classic. His professional training shows in the careful crafting of the dish. He blanches marinated pork belly skin with boiling water. When broiled, the skin blisters and produces an appealing texture. Long, slow baking crisps the skin and tenderizes the pork. Chef Soon then buries the pork in mustard greens and an aromatic spiced sauc