Dongpo Pagoda With Mui Choy

This weekend would be the last weekend to celebrate the Chinese New Year. as the 15th day falls on Feb. 6th 2012  What celebration??????  What is in store for my family and friends tomorrow would be "eating" of course and since it coincides with Super Bowl XLVI, the male friends and family will be glued to the TV enjoying the beers and all the good eats - you know what they are - chips and dips, buffalo wings etc.  We, the asians, wives and friends will be in the kitchen preparing our banquet and this is one of the dishes that i will be serving. 

Ingredient:

1 1/2 lb Belly Pork in a square piece
8 ozs Sweet Mui Choy(preserved vegetable)
4 ozs Shitake Mushrooms

Sauce to cook the Belly Pork:

2 tbsp oil

Ginger slices

2 stalks green onion - cut into 2 inches in length

1 cup soya sauce

2 tbsp dark caramel sauce

4 star anise

4 ozs rock sugar

2 cups Shaoxing/Hua Tiau Wine

8 cups water

1 tbsp cornstarch mix with 1 tbsp water

Garnish:

Shanghai Bak Choy
Coriander

Special Utensils:

Hexagon Template

Hexagon Mould made with foil

Method:

Remove the stalk of leaves from the sweet mui choy and soak in water for 1/2 hr to rid of salt and sand.

Chop the soaked mui choy into small pieces , rinse again and leave aside.

Bring a pot of water to the boil, put in the belly pork to cook to remove scum and piggy smell.

Remove and wash under cold water.

To make the sauce:

In the pressure cooker, heat oil, fry ginger slices and green onions until fragrant.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil until rock sugar dissolves.

Add in belly pork, close the pressure cooker and bring the pressure to 10 lbs and cook for 15 mins. 

Release the pressure and open the pressure cooker and check the belly pork for doneness - a knife should be able to poke through at the center.  Do not cook until too soft otherwise it will be difficult to slice.

Remove belly pork and put it onto a quarter-sheet pan, skin side down and then top with another quarter-sheet pan.  Allow this to press for at least 1 hour.  Remove the top quarter-sheet pan and put the belly pork in the fridge to harden - i left it overnight.

To assemble:

In the pressure cooker, dry fry the chopped sweet mui choy and shitake mushrooms, to rid of some of the moisture, then add in enough of sauce to cover the sweet mui choy (take the sauce from the top where all the oil has surfaced.  Sweet mui choy needs alot of oil/fat to be good eats.  Cover the pressure cooker and pressurized for 15 - 20 mins.  Release pressure before removing the lid of pressure cooker.

Remove the shitake mushrooms and dice them and put them back together with the sweet mui choy.

Remove the belly pork from the fridge and using the hexagon template, cut the belly pork to the shape of the hexagon.

Lay the hexagon shaped belly pork on one of it's side with the skin facing you and using a shape knife, slice the top side of the belly pork, from right to left,  continue to slice and stop at about the same height as the slice at the end of the side.  Turn the belly pork to the next side of the hexagon and continue to slice until the whole piece of belly pork hexagon is sliced..

Starting from the end of hexagon belly pork slice, carefully curl it up, leaving the sliced belly pork skin exposed. It will end up like a Pagoda, Put Pagoda into the mould.

Drain the cooked sweet mui choy and shitake mushrooms.

Stuff the Pagoda with with drained sweet mui choy and shitake mushrooms.  Use pressure to stuff as tightly as possible.

Turn stuffed Pagoda onto a small dish and put in the pressure cooker to pressurized for 20 - 30 minutes.

In the meantime,  cut the Shanghai Bak Choy into florets.  Bring water in a wok or small saucepan to the boil, add salt, sugar and chicken powder. Put in the florets to cook, remove and leave aside for garnishing.

Heat 1 cup of sauce in a wok or small saucepan, add in cornstarch solution.  Bring sauce to the boil and add in a drizzle of sesame oil. Leave aside for plating.

Turn over the Pagoda Belly Pork onto the platter and pour over the thickened sauce. 

Garnish with cooked shanghai bak choy florets and coriander and serve hot.

Note:

Extra sauce can be kept for future cooking.

If you have The Master Sauce, you do not have to cook the above sauce.