Char chee yoke recipe is from my grandma. It’s our main ingredients we serve always without fail for Chinese New Year. I managed to get the recipe which my mom had been doing it and learned from my grandma.

It’s a traditional Hakka braised pork belly with a lot of fat. You got to get at least 3 layers: skin, fat and meat that what my grandma told my mom. As the years goes by all of us kind of not keen on too fatty pork belly, so I got the pork with a bit less fat. I run out of brandy and my whiskey isn’t enough. Also, my 5 spice powder bottle is empty. Panic I searched my pantry and found I have a bottle of sake, all spice powder and star anise. I am also adding dried shitake mushrooms and brown sugar to adds a sweet and savory umami taste.

I had changed my grandma original recipe. Yes, it still has a similar flavour from my grandma as it has been marinated for 4 hours. Adding sake brings out an umami rich taste. Combining whiskey and sake bring a hint of ginger to the sauce. It also helps to tenderise the meat and adds a delicate aroma to my created dish that is similar to my grandma’s Char chee yoke. Let’s braised a new char chee yoke!!!

Ingredients

1 kilo of pork belly, wash, drain and cut into 3 or 4 long strips
1/2 packet of black fungus, soak overnight
8-10 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked overnight
1/2 bulb of garlic with skins, break them into individual garlic piece
4 eggs
2 star anise
3 Tbs of all spice powder
5 Tbs plain flour
2 Tbs light soy sauce
1 Tbs dark soy sauce
1 Tbs brown sugar (OPT)
1/4 c sake
1/4 c whiskey
3/4 Tbs salt
oil for deep frying
1 Tbs minced garlic
water enough to cover pork

Method

Place the long strip pork belly in a big bowl, add all spice powder, plain flour, salt, sake, whiskey, and crack the eggs in. Mix well till combined. Set in fridge for 4 hours to develop the flavour.

Heat oil on medium high heat. Deep fry a few pieces at a time about 4 minutes until golden brown and removed to a paper towel plate. Once deep frying all the pork, heat a big pot with oil. Then add 1 Tbs minced garlic fry till fragrant about 1 minutes. Add the fried pork to the pot.

Smash the individual garlic and add into pot. Now add black fungus and shitake mushrooms in and strain the fungus and mushrooms water into the pot. Add brown sugar, star anise, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and just enough water to cover the pork and stir well to coat the meat evenly with the sauce. Bring it to boil over high heat.

Reduce the heat to medium low heat and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Cover and braised until pork, fungus and mushrooms are soft about 40-50 minutes and the sauce reduces. Stir every 10 minutes to prevent burning. Spoon char chee yoke onto a bowl and serve with rice, some vegetables as side dish. Pair it with a glass of white wine. Enjoy!!!!

Note: Do not add pepper. If you don’t want to be too liquid add a little less water. If you like it darker colour add 2 Tbs of dark caramel sauce. You can omit brown sugar and use rock sugar about 4-5 small block. You can just use sake or whiskey or brandy alone. If you are using 5 spice powder than omit star anise.

https://helenscchin.com/2024/07/30/char-chee-yoke-sake-and-whiskey-braised-pork-belly/

My grandma original recipe: https://helenscchin.com/2021/02/21/char-chee-yoke-braised-pork-belly/

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