Today I will be showing you guys my grandma's secret recipe for a new years traditional dish, It's a very fragrant dish that requires a lot of time but it's so worth the result.
First we will need a type of dried preserved vegetable called Dried cabbage-meigan cai, soak them in water for 2 hours, wash clean and make sure you get rid of any sand in it, squeeze out excess water
Now take out another type of chinese dried cabbage and soak for 2 hours, cut off the hard stem and soak clean, dry and mince. for a detailed description of these two preserved vegetables, head to my website.
Place both of these cabbages into a steamer or a colander and place it into a pot after it has come to a boil steam for 15 minutes and set aside
Cut up the pork belly into large chunks, place into a cold pot of water, after it has come to a boil wait for 2 minutes then strain out, wash clean of the foam
Heat the pan hot and add a little bit of oil, if you are using a non stick pan you can skip the oil. place the pork chunks on and pan fry until all four sides are golden, this will take a bit of time and patience, careful of the heat and not burn the meat
Add in the salt and white wine, this will seem like a lot of salt , don't worry. use a high degree white wine, if you don't have it substitute with rice wine instead, pan fry the meat for 5 minutes to let the meat soak in the flavour
Take out the meat and leave the oil behind, add in the steamed cabbage, add in the sugar and panfry on medium heat until the cabbage turns a darker color, this should take about 25-30 minutes
add in the panfried pork and mix together
Turn down to low heat and let it sit and stir every 3 minutes, this should take about 30-40 minutes, careful not burn the cabbage at the bottom
Prepare a large bowl and line the meat and the cabbage inside, layer by later
Let it chill then seal with a cover and let it chill for 3 days
3 days later, take out the meat and panfry on low heat until the color becomes translucent, should take about 30 minutes
Use this same pot and panfry the dried cabbage for 30 minutes as well on low heat until the cabbage turns dark in color then place everything back into the bowl the way it was chill in the fridge
Repeat this process every 3 days for about a week, but the longer you do this the more fragrant it will taste, 15 days would be the perfect timing