Soy Sauce Pork Cubes

Soy sauce pork cubes: look at that shiny semi-transparent fat!

I like to throw all caution away sometimes, with my food that is. So for dinner tonight Wey could hardly believe his nose and then his eyes when I cooked soy sauce belly pork. I truly believe that sometimes you have to eat some fat to maintain that glow and bounce on your cheeks especially if you aren't 35 anymore and if you are going to do so, might as well make it devilishly sinful.

Instead of the highly flavored (wine, star anise, ginger, spring onions) 'red-cooked' pork which, as I've told you again and again, my Shanghainese MIL is best at, I was hankering for a simple soy sauce pork simmered in its own juice and fat, no water added. And what goes better with it than plain white rice although unfortunately I forgot to tell Ming and he cooked the usual semi-polished rice, which Wey dislikes. But still, we had a simple plate of home-grown kangkong, grilled mackeral/saba and a light jieu cai soup with the pork and it was belly-rubbing satisfying. Only thing is, I keep feeling this stretch on my tummy and thighs. But my face feels oily and icky, which must mean the oil's gone there too, which, at my age, is most welcome. Ah, never mind, back to rabbit food and lean meat tomorrow.

This recipe as I've said doesn't call for addition of water because the generous amount of wine is enough to cook the meat. Without much water, the pork will be shiny and not as 'stewy' looking and the moistness will come from the fat it's cooked in. Keep the pork skin on, because it will give a nice bite. Don't cook the pork until it is all soft and falling apart because it tastes best with a slight chew to it.

The secret to a good dish of soy sauce pork is to simmer the pork in its own juice. If you add too much water, the pork is boiled and tastes so but if you let the pork cook in very little water, the pork will have a taste between fried and simmered, which, when you get it right, tastes like food from heaven.

A cube of soy sauce belly pork goes a long way with a bowl of rice.

1 kg belly pork, skin on (same cut for bacon)
1 T Shaoxin wine or rice wine*
3 shallots (small red onions), smashed or sliced coarsely
5 T dark soy sauce**
2 T light soy sauce**
1/2 T rock sugar (about size of your thumb)
1/4 cup spring onions, in 3 cm lengths
*Use rice wine instead of Shaoxin wine if you want a stronger soy sauce flavor
**Use Lee Kum Kee's Selected soy sauces.

1. Wash and cut the belly pork into 'cubes' of about 1 1/2 "/3 cm thick. You can blanch the pork with hot boiling water if like to remove hairs and dirt. This step also prevents the sauce from becoming cloudy.

2. Heat up a heavy pot or a glass casserole dish like Corning's. Add 1 T oil, fry the shallots for 30 seconds and add in the pork. Sear pork over high heat until white all over. If you are cooking more than 1 kg, it is good to cook this in two batches so that the high heat is maintained and the meat gets seared without letting out liquid.

3. When meat is all white (and ideally, browned here and there), add the soy sauces, the wine, the rock sugar and 1/4 cup stock or water. Cover. Reduce heat so that it gives a medium-low simmer. Water will come out of the pork as it cooks. Stir once in a while.

4. After 45  minutes, test the pork. If you like it softer, cook another 15 to 30 minutes. Otherwise, uncover and add extra rice wine if like. Stir well to mix and increase heat to high to reduce the sauce until it's very thick. This may take another 10 minutes or more if there's lots of liquid.

5. Stir in the spring onions and serve hot with plain  boiled rice. Add a plate of stir-fried veggies.

If using pressure cooker, cook 15 minutes from the time the cooker hisses. After that, let the pressure dissipate fully and remove the lid. If there's too much liquid or the liquid is watery, turn the heat on high and cook without covering until the sauce is thick.