Pork belly and preserved mustard greens, steamed and turned out

Ingredientsserves 6

Equipment

• A deep heatproof bowl the pork packs into, and a plate wider than its rim
• A steamer big enough for the bowl, or a stockpot with a trivet, and a kettle of boiling water for topping up
• No steamer and no pot big enough: braise it instead. Cut the belly into mahjong-tile pieces, put them in a pot with the greens, soy and rock sugar, and braise forty-five minutes, then thirty with the heat off and the lid on, and repeat. The taste is the same; you only lose the turning out
• A wok, and a pot lid to hold as a shield: the skin spits the moment it goes into the oil

How the time splits

1. 3 hrThe greens soak; the belly boils in the last forty minutes of ithands off
2. 30 minPrick, colour, fry the skin, slice, fry the greens, pack the bowlhands on
3. 2 hrIn the steamer, checking the water every half hourhands off
4. 10 minPour off, turn out, reduce the saucehands on

Method

1. Soak the greens for one to three hours, changing the water once. Open them out leaf by leaf and rinse; the stalks hold the most sand, so rub each one. Bite a stalk: when it no longer makes you wince with salt, it is ready. Squeeze dry and chop.
2. For the last forty minutes of the soak, simmer the whole belly with the ginger in boiling water on a medium heat. Lift it out and, while it is hot, prick the skin all over with a fork, paint it with 2 tbsp of dark soy, leave it ten minutes to dry, then pat it dry with paper.
3. Heat the oil in the wok, lay the pork in skin down and get the lid over it at once. One drop of water on that skin and the oil erupts; it is the only step in the dish that can hurt you. Fry three to four minutes until the skin blisters and darkens, then drop it straight into iced water, which wrinkles the skin into what Hong Kong calls tiger skin. Cut it into 1 cm slices.
4. Pour off most of the oil, leaving a teaspoon, add the sesame oil and fry the garlic, then the greens with half the rock sugar until dry and fragrant.
5. Mix the light soy, 1 tbsp of dark soy, the wine, the rest of the rock sugar and the star anise with 3 tbsp of water. Lay the slices skin down in the bowl, each overlapping the last, pour the sauce over, and pack the greens on top, pressing down.
6. Steam over a rolling boil for two hours, checking the water every half hour and topping up with boiling water. Under two hours the meat is tough and the fat has not melted; three is safe.
7. Pour the liquid from the bowl into the wok. Put the plate over the bowl, turn it over, wait a moment and lift the bowl off. Reduce the liquid and spoon it over. It is better reheated the next day.

Take care

• Pork, soy, wheat, sesame, alcohol. Frying wet skin is the hazard in this dish: dry the pork, hold the lid as a shield and stand back. The greens are very salty and need their full soak.

The story

Hakka and 惠州 food that became everybody's reunion dish. No single step is hard: boil, colour, fry, slice, pack, steam. The work is the order they come in, and the two hours at the end. Turning the bowl out onto the plate is the moment the whole family watches. It reheats better than it eats on the first day, which is why it is often still on the table the day after New Year.

Same kind

Crackling roast pork bellyBraised shiitake in oyster sauceConpoy and whole garlic, steamed and turned out

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.