I have leftovers fried egg vermicelli noodles and vegetables; I heat up using microwave. Recipe is written below. Today I am trying my hands on making braised Sichuan pork to go with the noodles, along with a different method to cook hard boiled eggs, and adding ginger pickled to the eggs. I am using stove.
“Braised pork belly is a classic Chinese comfort dish made from tender, gelatinous pork chunks, cooked in soy sauce, rice wine, and spices, resulting in a rich texture. This dish is a good source of protein and collagen, beneficial for skin elasticity and joint health, while also providing essential nutrients like iron and B vitamins. Leftovers can be used in other meals, such as noodles.”
“Hokkien Noodles: These oiled fresh noodles, made from wheat flour and egg, were introduced to Malaysia by Hokkien Chinese and are now found in stir-fries around the world. They resemble spaghetti in thickness and are almost meaty in texture. “Vermicelli is made from refined flour or rice. Vermicelli is similar in appearance to noodles but is much thinner. They are a form of rice noodles. They are often referred to as rice noodles or rice sticks.”
I didn’t get a big piece of pork belly as this is a tryout. Am glad it turned out perfectly tender gelatinous and delicious to go with fried noodles along with eggs. Let’s cook!!!
Ingredients
Braised Sichuan pork belly
600 g skin-on boneless pork belly
2 thumb size pieces of ginger, (or 1 Tbs of ginger puree)
5 star anise
3-5 dried red chilies (OPT)
1 small bulb garlic, don’t need to peel
250 ml chicken stock or water, extra if needed
60 ml Shao Xing cooking wine or dry sherry
5 Tbs dark soy sauce
2 Tbs light soy sauce
60 g rock sugar, 2 Tbs finely crushed and 2 Tbs left whole (See Note)
1 Tsp 5-spices powder (OPT)
1 Tsp Sichuan mixed pepper spice
a tiny squeeze of lemongrass paste, bought (OPT)
2 Tbs oil
pinch salt and pepper
water
Fried egg vermicelli and vegetables
225 g Hokkien noodles
4 blocks vermicelli noodles
200 g packet winter vegetables (broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, and green beans)
200 g fresh bean sprouts, tails removed
120 g dried thinly cut black fungus
8 Chinese cabbage, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
2 carrots, cut julienned
2 Tsp garlic minced
oil
Sauce
1 chicken drumsticks, for flavouring stock
1 c chicken stock
1 Tbs oyster Sauce
1 Tsp light soy sauce
1 Tsp dark soy sauce
1 Tsp garlic minced
2-3 Tbs black fungus liquid
2 dashes of pepper, extra
1 Tsp salt, extra
1/2 Tbs cornflour
1 1/2 Tbs water
1/2 Tsp sesame oil
Marinade pork
500 g diced pork
1 Tbs Shoa Xing, Chinese cooking wine
1 Tsp soy sauce
1 Tsp sesame oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 Tsp dark soy sauce
1 Tsp fish sauce (OPT)
Stove hard boiled eggs
2 cold eggs
water
ginger pickled, garnish
Method
Braised Sichuan pork belly
Bring about 2 inches (5 cm) of water to a boil over high in a large pot. Add the pork belly and boil for 3 minutes. Add more water to cover the pork if necessary. This step removes impurities from the pork, making for a clearer dish. Drain, pat really dry, and set aside on a paper towel line plate. When cool enough to handle, pat again, then cut the pork into 3/4-inch thick pieces.
Heat 2 Tbs oil in a saucepan on low, until until wisps of smoke curl up off the edges. Add the crushed rock sugar and stir until the sugar melts and dissolves. Increase the heat to medium and, working in two batches if necessary, I wear rubber gloves; if you don’t have that’s ok. Gently slide in the pork belly pieces. Brown all sides of the pork. Any residual water on the pork will pop in the oil—don’t be scared!!! A splatter screen can help keep the oil contained.
Stir only occasionally, so that the pork can caramelize and brown. This step gives it a rich caramel flavour. Add the dark soy sauce and fry for an additional minute. In a cast iron casserole pan, combine the browned pork with the stock, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, remaining rock sugar, 3-5 dried red chilies, Sichuan mixed pepper spice, 5-spices powder, star anise, a tiny squeeze of lemongrass paste, and ginger. The mixture should come three-quarters of the way up the side of the pile of pork. If not, add more stock or water.
Bring to a boil over high, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and simmer, partially covered, for at least 3-4 hours. At about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. You can test for seasoning at this point and season with salt and pepper. The longer the pork simmers, the more tender and flavourful it will be; it’s ready when it’s tender enough to slip a chopstick in with ease, but you can go up to 1-2 hours longer to build the flavour even more. Add more stock or water as needed; the cast iron pan should never be dry.
Stove hard boiled eggs
Meantime make hard boiled eggs. Place water and ice cubes in a basin and place into fridge. Put eggs gently in a small pot, cover with 2 inches of cold water, and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover with a lid, and let them sit for 10–12 minutes.
When time up, removed lid; gently using the slothered spoon removed the eggs and straight away put into the prepared ice bath. Chill for about 10-15 minutes. I use one egg only the other egg no peel and stored in an airtight container. Peel one and using the egg cutter, sliced the egg. Set aside on a plate, cling wrap, and put back in fridge until needed.
Fried egg vermicelli and vegetables
Soak dried thinly cut black fungus overnight and reserve the soaking liquid. The next day add pork and marinade into a bowl and mix well, then cling wrap and refrigerate for later about 30 minutes. Bring drumstick, garlic, sauces, sesame oil, salt and pepper and stock up to a simmer, make sure chicken is cooked about 20-25 minutes. Check seasoning. Once stock and chicken done, removed chicken onto a plate to cool and keep for another dish.
Soak the rice vermicelli in warm water for 30 minutes or until they turn soft. Drain vermicelli and put in a bowl. Set aside. Reserved the drain vermicelli water to clean/ rinse bean sprouts and set aside to drain.
Blanch Hokkien noodles in stock for about 3 minutes, turn off heat. Drain and set aside keep warm. Then add corn flour to 1 1/2 Tbs water in a bowl and mix well, making sure there are no lumps. Set aside.
Heat up 1 Tbs oil in the wok and fry garlic until golden brown. Next add the carrots and fry for a minute. Then add Chinese cabbage, and black fungus; stir fry for another 1-2 minutes until slightly softened. Transfer to a plate.
Next add another 1 Tbs of oil into the wok over high heat, add pork with the marinade in until cooked and pour in about 2 ladles chicken stock. Once cooked, pour corn flour mixture into the chicken stock and simmer until the gravy thickens. Pour back carrots, Chinese cabbage, black fungus and Hokkien noodles and stir well to warm up again. Next add vermicelli and winter vegetables stir toss for about 2 minutes or until noodles turn soft and not wet. Add bean sprouts; mix well for about 1 minutes until bean sprouts are cooked. Check the seasoning.
Braised Sichuan pork belly
When nearly ready to serve, remove the lid, increase the heat to high, and boil until the cooking liquid becomes a thick, dark, glistening sauce that covers the pork belly. If the pork belly has begun to break down (the lean meat is separating from the fatty portion), use a slotted spoon to remove the cubes before cooking down the sauce, and add the cubes of meat back in at the end.
Serve with fried egg vermicelli and vegetables, along hard boiled egg and ginger pickled. Enjoy with a glass of red wine!!!
Note: If you can’t get rock sugar you can use 2 Tbs granulated sugar or 2 Tbs regular sugar, or 2 Tbs honey, 2 Tbs brown sugar. You can use water instead of chicken stock.
Fried egg vermicelli and vegetables
I prefer to refrigerate marinated pork until ready to be cooked to give pork a crunchier texture as well as absorb the marinade. You can set it aside on bench top. You can soak black fungus in hot water for 20 minutes.
You can use dried shiitake mushrooms and cut yourself into thin slices. When the remaining stock has cool down. Transfer to a container and keep in fridge or if you like in freezer. I keep in fridge about 3 days. Winter vegetables packet 500 g has broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots.
You can try air fryer hard boiled eggs. “Hard-boiled eggs last for up to 7 days in the refrigerator, whether they are peeled or still in their shells, according to the USDA and FDA. For best quality, they should be stored in a sealed, airtight container to prevent absorbing fridge. Refrigerate eggs within two hours of cooking. Store in an airtight container in the coldest part of the fridge. If a hard-boiled egg smells like sulfur, feels slimy, or has a chalky texture, it should be discarded. Do not freeze whole boiled eggs, as the whites become rubbery.”
“Hard boiled eggs can be refrigerated for up to one week whether they’re peeled or unpeeled. For unpeeled hard boiled eggs, store them in any container, sealed or unsealed. For peeled hard-boiled eggs, store them in a bowl of cold water to cover. Make sure to change the water daily. Or you can store them in a sealed container without water. Instead, cover the eggs with damp paper towels.”
Another recipe said “Eggs within the same carton can vary in size. Use large eggs (about 57g/2oz each) for the cooking times given. If your eggs are slightly larger or smaller, add or subtract 2 minutes, respectively.”
“Batch cook large quantities of eggs. Since air fryer hard boiled eggs last for about a week in the refrigerator, you can air fry several eggs in batches of 4 (or the amount you know your air fryer can hold) and store them for a quick snack or meal addition.”
“Fresh eggs are more difficult to peel. Just check the expiration date on the package. If you are within a couple of weeks of the date, they should peel more easily!”
For my other recipe: Fried egg vermicelli pork and vegetables with hardboiled egg ginger pickled
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