Braised Pork Belly with Dried Squid

Looking at this picture is enough to make me drool. When I was young, my granny would often make this, as this showcased the lovely big dried squids given by relatives who visited Hong Kong from her seaside hometown in Zhejiang. In those days, I was merely an eater happily munching piece after piece of pork belly. How much I now regret not learning this dish from my granny! To make up for my past misgivings and to satisfy my greedy appetite, I recreate this dish with the help of my mom over the phone.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1. 900g pork belly
2. 2 dried squid
3. 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
4. a knob of ginger, about 40g, cut into thick slices
5. 2 spring onion, sliced
6. 3 tablespoons light soy
7. 2 tablespoons dark soy
8. 3 tablespoons rock sugar pieces
9. 80ml shaoxing wine
10. 1 star anise

Method:

• Soak the dried squid in some cold water for about an hour or until soft. Remove the membrane and the hard bone of the squid and cut into thick strips.
• Put the whole piece of pork belly in a large pan of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes so that the impurities will surface on the water. Lift out and rinse off the scum sticking to the pork belly in cold water. Cut the pork belly into 2cm dices.
• Heat a cast iron casserole or wok with 2 tablespoon of oil. Add spring onion and ginger and stir until you can smell the fragrance of the spring onion and ginger.
• Add the dried squid strips and pork belly pieces to the casserole/wok and stir-fry until the sides of pork belly pieces are slightly golden. Add in light soy, dark soy, rock sugar and star anise and toss until the rock sugar has melted. Add shaoxing wine into the pan and stir for a minute.
• Finally, add in about 200ml of water. Close the lid and let it simmer for about 1 1/2 hour. You may need to check from time to time and add more water if the cooking liquid evaporates. Taste to see if you need any salt.