Grandma's soy-sauce braised pork belly

Adam Liaw shares his grandmother's recipe for pork belly marinated in a sweet and salty soy blend, served with hard-boiled eggs.

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

Cultural Dish

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg pork belly, cut into 5-cm pieces
• 10 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 cup dried wood ear fungus
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 head garlic, left whole
• 2-cm piece ginger, thickly sliced
• 60 ml (¼ cup) soy sauce
• 60 ml (¼ cup) dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Cheong Chan caramel sauce (see Note)
• 60 ml (¼ cup) Shaoxing wine
• 55 g (¼ cup) sugar
• 1 stick cassia
• 3 star anise
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
• steamed rice, to serve

Marinade

• 2 pieces preserved bean curd
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
• ½ tsp ground white pepper

Marinating time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. For the marinade, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine well. Add the pork, stir to coat, then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour but preferably overnight.
2. Meanwhile, place the shiitake mushrooms and wood ear fungus in a large bowl. Pour over 1 litre of hot water and stand for 1 hour. Drain, reserve the soaking liquid and trim the stalks off the shiitake mushrooms.
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over high heat. When the oil is hot, cook the marinated pork for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and their soaking liquid, along with all the remaining ingredients except the boiled eggs. Bring to the boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Add the boiled eggs and simmer for another 15-30 minutes or until the pork is very tender. Serve with steamed rice.

Note

• Cheong Chan caramel sauce is a Malaysian cooking sauce that is sold at Asian grocers and online.

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Cultural Dish

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G