Red Roast Pork With Shanghai Cabbage Dad Food

RED COOKED PORK (HONG SHAO ROU): GRANDMA'S VERSION

Steps:

• Start by cutting up your pork belly.
• Then fill a pot with cold water and submerge your eggs. Put the pot on the stove and gently bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling, boil the eggs for 5 minutes. Take them out and put them into a bowl of ice water to cool for 5 minutes before peeling.
• After that's done, boil some more water in a large pot. Add the pork to the boiling water and blanch for about 3 minutes to get rid of excess fat and other impurities. Drain and rinse the meat.
• Make sure your wok is clean and dry. Over medium low heat, add about 3 tablespoons of sugar to the dry wok (no oil) and toss the sugar around. You'll see it start to turn an amber color. Let it melt until it becomes almost a syrup.
• Add the meat to the pan in 1 layer (still no oil necessary). Let the meat brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.
• Then add ½ cup shaoxing wine, 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons regular soy sauce and a cup of water. Stir.
• Cover the wok and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour. Check it periodically to make sure that it's not too dry, adding a little water when necessary.
• By then, your eggs should be cooled off. Peel them and score them lengthwise to let the sauce into the crevices of each hard-boiled egg. Add them to the pan and gently coat them in the sauce, being careful not to break them up. Simmer for another 15 minutes (add water if needed) and then take the eggs out of the pan. Taste the sauce at this point for salt. If it needs a little more, add a dash of soy sauce 1 teaspoon at a time, until it's right. We found that you didn't need much more beyond the initial 2 tablespoons, but use your own judgment.
• Then add your tofu and stir in gently. Simmer for another 20 minutes.
• Give everything another stir and add your eggs back in.

SHANGHAI RED-BRAISED PORK WITH EGGS

Steps:

• Hard-boil the eggs in a pan of boiling water, then cool and shell them. In each egg, make 6 - 8 shallow slashes lengthways to allow the flavors of the stew to enter. Smack the ginger and spring onion gently with the flat side of a Chinese cleaver or a rolling pin to loosen their fibers.
• Put the pork in a pan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil over a high flame and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse it under the cold tap. When cool enough to handle, cut the meat through the skin into 1 - 1 1/2-in (2-3cm) cubes (if your piece of belly is thick, you may want to cut each piece in half so they end up more cube-like).
• Heat the oil in a seasoned wok over a high flame. Add the ginger, spring onion, star anise and cassia and stir-fry briefly until they smell wonderful. Add the pork and fry for another 1 - 2 minutes until the meat is faintly golden and some of the oil is running out of the fat. Splash the Shaoxing wine around the edges of the pan. Add the hard-boiled eggs and stock or hot water, along with the light soy sauce, 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce and the sugar. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Pour into a pot or a bowl, allow to cool, then chill overnight. In the morning, remove the layer of pale fat that has settled on the surface. Tip the meat and jellied liquid back into a wok, reheat gently, then boil over a high flame to reduce the sauce, stirring constantly. Remove and discard the ginger, spring onion and whole spices. After 10 - 15 minutes, when the liquid has reduced by about half, stir in the remaining dark soy sauce.
• Shortly before you wish to serve, bring to the boil over a high flame and reduce the sauce to about an inch of dark, sleek gravy. Turn out into a serving dish. Then go and welcome your son back from his imperial civil service examinations!
• If you have any leftovers - unlikely, in my experience - you can reheat them with a little water and some dried bamboo shoot, winter melon, tofu knots, deep-fried tofu puffs or radishes. In fact, you might wish, like some of my Chinese friends, to red-braise odd scraps of fatty pork just to cook vegetables, because it makes them so delicious.
• Shanghai red-braised pork
• Omit the eggs and increase the amount of pork to 1kg. Use only 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp plus 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 2 1/2 tbsp sugar and 2 cups (500ml) hot water.

DAD'S RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and apples and saute 3 to 4 minutes, until tender. Add shredded cabbage, wine, water, vinegar, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, partially cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add grated potato and simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes, until mixture thickens and potato is tender, stirring frequently.

MING TSAI RED ROAST PORK WITH BOK CHOY FONDUE (DAD)

Steps:

• Put all liquid ingredients and sugar in a tall stockpot and bring to a boil. Add pork and reduce heat. When boiling again, turn down to a simmer and skim off the 'scum'. Add the rest of the remaining ingredients, except cabbage. Taste for seasoning; it should be fairly sweet. If not, add more brown sugar. Remember that the taste of the braising liquid will ultimately be the taste of the pork, so make sure it tastes good! Simmer slowly for 6 to 8 hours, or until pork is very soft. Carefully remove the pork, place it on a large platter and cover with foil to keep hot. Strain the liquid and reduce until a syrupy consistency is achieved, this will take 20 to 30 minutes. In the last 10 minutes of reducing, add the bok choy to cook until soft. Place bok choy around the pork and glaze pork with reduction. Serve with side of sambal oelek.;

SLOW-COOKED PORK & RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Cut the pork into thick slices, about 3cm thick. Coarsely crush the peppercorns and sprinkle over the pork along with the thyme and some salt and pepper.
• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large flameproof casserole, then add the onions and fry until lightly browned. Add the cabbage and stir well, then add the apples and wine and cook until the cabbage starts to soften. Finally, add the chestnuts, 1 tbsp of the jelly, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 5 mins.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan, add the pork and fry on both sides until browned, then stir in the remaining tbsp of the jelly. Cook for a few mins until the pork is deeply browned and glistening. Arrange the pork over the cabbage. Pour a little boiling water into the frying pan, stir well to lift up all the pan juices, then pour over the pork.
• Cover the pan tightly, then cook in the oven for 1¼-1½ hrs until the pork is very tender.

PORK WITH BRAISED RED CABBAGE & PEARS

Steps:

• Put the cabbage, pears, ginger, stock and vinegar into a pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat. Cover, then gently cook, stirring occasionally, for 40 mins. Stir in the walnuts.
• Split the pork fillet almost in half down its length, then open out like a book. Rub on all sides with the oil and smear with mustard. Grill for 15 mins, turning once, until the pork is browned and just cooked. Cover with foil, rest for 2 mins, then slice and serve with the cabbage.

SHANGHAI-STYLE BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the pork. Return to the boil, skim, reduce the heat and simmer gently, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly.
• Using a potato peeler, remove 8 strips of zest from the orange. Put the star anise, cinnamon sticks, cumin seeds, dried chillies and orange zest in a piece of muslin and tie together tightly.
• Make the braising liquid by combining all the ingredients in a very large pot and bringing the liquid to a simmer. Add the bag of spices and the blanched pork, and bring back to a simmer, partially covered, skimming all the while.
• Cover the pot tightly and continue to simmer gently for 3 hours, until the pork fat and rind are very soft and tender. You can do this up to a day ahead, let the pork cool in the liquid, chill overnight, then reheat gently in the liquid before serving.
• Cut the bok choi in halves or quarters depending on their size, or the Chinese leaves into 5cm/2in pieces. When the pork is done, remove it from the liquid. Remove the skin and cut the meat into small pieces. Add the bok choi to the pot and cook over high heat until it is very tender about 3 minutes. Remove the bok choi from the cooking liquid and place on a warm dish. Arrange the pork on top.
• Skim off all the fat from the braising liquid and boil it to reduce it by about half. Pour some over the meat to moisten it and serve the rest separately. (You will probably have a lot leftover.) Serve with rice.