Pork hock in red fermented bean curd

Name: Pork hock in red fermented bean curd
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 1 h 25 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Cantonese
Ingredients: Pork hock 1.2 kg; Red fermented bean curd 2 cubes, about 40 g; Peanut 75 g; Dried shiitake mushroom 8; Fresh ginger 5 slices; Shallots 4; Garlic 3 cloves; Star anise 2; Rice wine (cooking wine) 2 tbsp; Oyster sauce 1 tbsp; Light soy sauce 1 tbsp; Dark soy sauce 1 tsp; Rock sugar 20 g; Cooking oil 2 tbsp; Spring onion / scallion 3

南乳炆豬手

BraisedPorkWeekendFor guestsGood reheatedMediumhands-on 35 min · start to finish 2 hr

“Give it time. It is better again tomorrow.”

Ingredientsserves 4

街市Pork hock· chopped through the bone by the butcher into 5 cm pieces1.2 kg

雜貨舖Red fermented bean curd· mashed with two tablespoons of the brine from the jar2 cubes, about 40 g

百子櫃Peanut· raw, soaked half an hour in hot water75 g

百子櫃Dried shiitake mushroom· soaked, stems off8

街市Fresh ginger· two for the blanching water5 slices

街市Shallots4

街市Garlic3 cloves

百子櫃Star anise2

雜貨舖Rice wine (cooking wine)· Shaoxing2 tbsp

雜貨舖Oyster sauce1 tbsp

雜貨舖Light soy sauce1 tbsp

雜貨舖Dark soy sauce· for colour1 tsp

百子櫃Rock sugar20 g

雜貨舖Cooking oil2 tbsp

街市Spring onion / scallion· the whites only, in lengths, to finish3

Method

Blanch the hock: cover with cold water with two slices of ginger, bring to the boil and simmer ten minutes; drain, rinse under cold water and scrape or singe off any hair on the skin.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in the pot and fry the ginger, shallots, garlic and star anise until fragrant; add the hock and turn it in the oil until the skin tightens.
Mash the red bean curd with two tablespoons of its brine, add it and fry half a minute until every piece is coated red; splash the wine down the side of the pot.
Add the soaked peanuts, mushrooms, oyster sauce, both soys and the rock sugar, pour in hot water to just cover, bring to the boil and skim; lid on, lowest heat, an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half.
Judge it by the chopstick, not the clock: it is done when a chopstick slides through the skin without resistance, and if it does not, braise on.
Lid off, high heat, and reduce until the sauce is sticky and clings; add the spring onion whites, lid on, off the heat for ten minutes.
Serve with plenty of rice. The sauce sets to jelly in the fridge and the dish reheats well for two more nights.

Take care

Contains peanut; soy and wheat (red bean curd, soy sauce, oyster sauce); oyster sauce contains mollusc (oyster). Pork must be cooked through, which at these times it is well past.

The story

Red fermented bean curd, coloured with red yeast rice, is the Cantonese braising ferment and pork hock is its signature dish: a Lunar New Year pot in many families, the hock and peanuts read as 就手 and 發, handy and prosperous, and an ordinary Sunday braise the rest of the year. HK01's piece opens with the question every child asks, why 南乳 is red, and answers with the red yeast rice.

Same technique

Braised beef brisket with white radish

Braised chicken with dried shiitake

Soy sauce chicken

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.