Well, if I am not really in the mood to cook, braising meat is the solution for me because I feel it is easy to cook.
This is the first time I am using a fizzy drink "Root Beer" to braise meat and I was really in doubt how the taste would came out.
Braised Pork Belly in Root Beer
Recipe from Noob Cook with slight changes
Ingredients
8 dried Chinese
mushrooms
4 eggs
1-2 tbsp cooking
oil
500 grams
pork belly
2 tbsp dark
soy sauce
1 can
(330 ml) root beer
750 ml water
1 cinnamon
stick (桂皮)
1 star
anise (八角)
4 cloves
(丁香)
1/2 tsp Chinese
5-spice powder (五香粉)
1.5 bulbs
garlic separated into individual cloves (no need to peel)
dashes of
white pepper powder to taste
1-2 tbsp
light soy sauce *
1 tbsp
sugar to taste *
1-2 piece
tau kwa (fried beancurd/豆干) quartered
spring
onions or coriander garnishing
Method
1. Soak dry mushrooms in small bowl of hot water
until puffy, then drain water. Squeeze
out
the water from mushrooms and trim away stems. Set aside the mushroom.
2. Prepare 80% cooked hard boiled eggs. To do
that, place eggs in saucepan of cold
water (enough water to cover eggs one layer).
Bring to a boil for about 2 minutes, turn
off
the stove and cover with lid for about 7 minutes (for 100% hard boiled eggs,
it’s
about 10 minutes). Rinse the eggs with
cold water until eggs are cooled. Peel when
cool enough to handle. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in casserole (wok, claypot or deep
pot). Brown pork belly on both sides on
medium heat. Add 1 tbsp dark soy sauce on both
sides of browned pork belly.
Add the rest of the ingredients except
eggs, tau kwa and spring onions/coriander.
Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer
(with lid partially closed) for an hour, or
until the meat is tender.
4. During the last 10 minutes of simmering, add
eggs and tau kwa. To serve, slice pork
belly to smaller, bite-sized pieces.
* Add the light soy sauce and sugar according to your preference taste.
Remember to serve this together with your favourite chilli sauce........
