Sun-Dried Cauliflower and Pork Belly Stew 白花椰菜干滷肉

Last time I made a shredded pork stir-fry dish with sun-dried cauliflower. This time around, an even more traditional route, sun-dried cauliflower is going to be used in a pork belly stew.

Sun-dried cauliflower and pork belly stew 白花椰菜干滷肉 - 

Ingredients?

• 1 1/2 loosely packed cups sun-dried cauliflower
• 385 grams pork belly
• 6 garlic cloves
• 2 stalks scallion
• 2 red chilies
• 2 slices ginger
• 1 tablespoon preferred neutral cooking oil
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup Chinese rice cooking wine
• 3 crystal sugar 

How?

Soak the sun-dried cauliflower in room temperature water for 30 minutes. Once done, drain and set aside for later use.

Peel the garlic cloves. Destem and slice diagonally for the red chilies. Scrape off the skin and slice the ginger, about 1.5 mm thickness. Destem and section the scallion.

Cut the pork belly into chunks. If using good quality pork, like the kind without that sticky smell, go ahead with the regular cooking process. However, if unsure, you can bring a pot of water to a boil and quickly cook the pork chunks till some grayish foamy bits start to float on the surface. Drain and remove the foamy bits then set the pork aside for stew later on.

Prepare a clay pot if possible, otherwise a good size cookware. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of oil and turn to medium high heat. Once warmed up, add in pork chunks and sear till slightly colored on both sides.

Add in garlic, chilies, scallion and ginger slices. Give it a quick mix and sear till the garlic cloves turn slightly browned, but not burnt.

Pour in 1 1/2 cups of water along with 1/2 cup of soy sauce, and 1/3 cup of Chinese rice cooking wine. Also transfer drained cauliflower over.

Bring the whole thing to a boil then lower the heat to keep it slightly bubbling on the surface. Cover with a lid and let it stew for about 40 minutes. 

After 40 minutes, remove the lid and add few pieces of crystal sugar. Continue to stew till the pork reaches your desire texture.

For myself, this time I'd like to stew it all the way till almost no more sauce present, but the pork still remain moist and tender. The entire stew time took close to an hour.

Just like my earlier recipe using sun-dried cauliflower. Fresh cauliflower can be quite delicate and break apart easily. But after sun-drying process, the texture became somewhat sturdy and doesn't fall apart at all even used in a stew. The texture is still slightly chewy with concentrated earthy aroma.

You can serve this stew with some steamed rice, or use as a base for Chinese dry noodles. In the case for noodles, perhaps add more black vinegar, soy sauce, or chili sauce to bring the flavor up a notch. 

Extended reading:

• Sun-dried cauliflower and shredded pork stir-fry 白花椰菜乾炒肉絲