Dish of Pork Belly with Cauliflower
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Pork Belly with Cauliflower


China
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2+ w/rice
***
1 hr
Prep		 A fine light but satisfying main dish stir fry, reported to be very popular in restaurants in China. See also Comments

10
1
6
2
1/2
4
1
1
1
1/2
1
1/2
1/4
oz
#
oz

in
cl
t
T
T
c
t
t
t
Pork Belly (1)  
Cauliflower (2)
Red Anaheim (3)
Scallions
Ginger
Garlic
Cornstarch
Water
Oil
Stock (3)
Soy Sauce
Salt
Pepper
Prep   -   (35 min)
  1. Cut PORK BELLY less than 1/4 inch thick by the width of the strips..
  2. Cut CAULIFLOWER into bite size florets.
  3. Blast RED PEPPER black with your Kitchen Torch and brush the skin off under running water.
  4. Slice SCALLIONS fairly thin. Add White Part to Red Pepper, hold green part for Garnish.
  5. Slice GINGER very thin, and cut the slices into narrow slivers. Slice GARLIC thin. Mix
  6. Mix Cornstarch and Water.
  7. Mix Stock and Soy Sauce.
RUN   -   (20 min)
  1. Soak Cauliflower in cool, lightly salted water for about 10 minutes. Drain.
  2. In a wok or spacious sauté pan, heat 1 T Oil. Stir in Pork Belly and fry stirring over moderately hot flame until it shows a trace of color.
  3. Stir in Ginger mix. Fry stirring until Garlic starts to color
  4. Stir in drained Cauliflower. Tumble in the Oil until mostly coated, then stir in the Stock. Bring to a boil, cover and turn to moderate flame until Cauliflower is just tender, 7 or 8 minutes. Tumble the Cauliflower a few times for even cooking.
  5. Season to taste with Salt and Pepper.
  6. Stir up Starch mix, then stir it into the pan. Continue to stir until the sauce has thickened some. It will not get very thick.
  7. Serve hot, garnished with Scallion Greens.
NOTES:

  1. Pork Belly:

      This is simply bacon that has not been cured and smoked, and is sold in whole sides, blocks, or sliced much thicker than bacon, usually used with the skin on. It is easily available in markets serving an East or Southeast Asian, Latin or Central European community. For details see our Pork Belly page.

  2. Cauliflower:

      Weight is for florets only, as yield is difficult to predict due to varying amount of stems.

  3. Red Anaheim:

      A red Bell Pepper could be used instead if you don't have Red Anaheims.

  4. Stock:

      Pork or Chicken stock will work fine.

  5. Comments:

      I have made some modifications to the pattern recipe, published by a lady from Hunan, China, now living in New York. I skinned the bell pepper for better texture, especially if the dish is re-heated. I also added the stock and thickener so it would go better alone with my rice. This is consistent with thousands of Chinese dishes, so I make no apology. The weights and measures are mine, because the Hunan lady called out everything "English style" by count, with no hint how much these ingredients weigh in New York. Fortunately, she had photos. I could see "3 strips of Pork Belly" was a small amount in a bowl. At my local market in Southern California, "3 strips" is nearly 2 pounds. Really, lady, a nice digital scale can be had for around 2020 US $20.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch ar=as required tt=to taste
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