Winnie kicked off the South Arm Community Kitchen cooking class for the year 2007 with two pork dishes. She made Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce and Stir-fried Pork with Bamboo Shoots.
These pork dishes are very common dishes cook in the home of Chinese families. The gravy from these dishes goes really well with steam rice. Kids can just gobble up the rice with the gravy alone. Make sure you cook extra rice when you make such dishes.
Winnie also treated us with some abalone to celebrate the start of a new year. Abalone is a kind of shellfish which is served during auspicious celebration like Chinese New Year, Wedding and Birthday. It is an expensive delicacy. Winnie, thank you for your generosity.
Besides that, Winnie also shared with us some Pizza Pretzels while waiting for the dishes to be cooked.
Here is the recipe for the Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork (butt or bacon with skin on), cut into 1 1/2 inches pieces
- 1/4 cup pork rind (optional)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup garlic cloves
- 2 star anise
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 cups water
- salt to taste
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Instructions
 Using a deep pot, heat sugar until melted. |
 Brown the pork pieces and pork rind for 2 minutes. Add dark soy sauce and light soy sauce and stir-fry to mix well. |
 Add star anise, garlic and water and cover to bring it to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for one hour with cover.
Do not remove the cover but do shake the pot about every 20 minutes so that the contents will not stick to the pot. Cook until the sauce is reduced to 1/2 cup and thicken. Serve hot with steam rice. |
I have a similar recipe, but I vary it sometimes with beef brisket, other times with chicken (bone-in) pieces. For the pork version I add potatoes. For the beef brisket version I add carrots and sometimes daikon too. With chicken I switch to shiitake mushrooms, scallions, and baby corn. Either way, LOTS of white fluffy rice is always made 🙂 Great dish for cold, wet climes we have these days.
Abalone…I want I want! 😉
I have a very similar recipe as well. In Taiwan, we use pork hocks, although for health reasons, I add fried tofu as well. Cuts down on the amount of pork/pork fat used.