400g(5/6lb.) belly pork, 400g(5/6lb.) taro, 2 whole star-anises, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 cups of oil, 1/2T cornstarch, 2T water, some coriander (parsley).
SEASONINGS:
(1) 3T soy sauce, 1/2t black vinegar.
(2) 1T Shaoxing wine, 2T soy sauce, 1/2T sugar, 1/2t sesame oil, 1 cup of stock.
PREPARATION :
1. Rinse and slice belly pork; Blanch in boiling water for 1 minute so as to drain the fat and blood; Remove and immediately rinse in running water for a while; Pat dry and puncture the skin evenly with a fork; Marinate with seasoning (1) for 10 minutes.
2. Heat a wok and add two cups of oil; Bring to the boil and turn to a medium heat; Slowly slide in pork belly and deep-fry till the skin has become slightly brown; Remove and immediately rinse in running water till the skin has become soft.
3. Peel, rinse, and coarsely slice taro; Peel, rinse and slice garlic; Rinse coriander.
4. Arrange the sliced pork belly and sliced taro in a eight-inch-deep bowl in the way that each sliced pork is in the line with each sliced taro (skin sides down); Stir seasoning (2) well and drizzle over pork and taro; Add star-anises and sliced garlic.
5. Arrange a steaming rack into a deep wok; Arrange the bowl on the steaming rack; Pour water into the wok till covering the steaming rack; Cover the wok with a lid; Steam over a high heat for 30~40 minutes.
6. Pour the soup to a pot; Get rid of the star-anises and garlic; Cover the bowl with a deep plate and reverse as fast as possible so that the pork and taro buckle in the plate.
7. Stir starch in cold water until it has been well dissolved; Slowly stir in the starch solution to the pot from step 6; Cook over a low heat until the sauce has thickened; Pour the thickened soup to the pork and taro and garnish with coriander. Ready to serve.
COOKING TIPS:
1. It is important not to add starch to hot water and continuously stir the mixture when cooking so that the mixture will not be lumpy.
2. Taro and banana should not be taken at the same time.
3. Quality star-anise should be in whole; crumbled ones are not preferred.
4. When handling taro, it is better to wear gloves as taro has saponin which could cause itchy.
