Stewing · FFET10293
Pork stewed with starch noodles
Pork belly, napa cabbage and starch noodles stewed until soft, a representative Northeastern dish.
A deep white porcelain bowl has pork belly, cabbage and translucent noodles in clear brown soup with scallion, ginger, dry red chilies, star anise, cassia bark and fennel seeds, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
Slow cooking in plenty of water or stock over low heat, with the broth kept.
Pork stewed with starch noodles is a dish of pork belly, napa cabbage and potato or sweet potato starch noodles stewed together until soft. It is a representative dish of Northeastern cooking and appears as a traditional Northeastern food in a 2018 account. No dated text was found, and its specific Northeastern province or city of origin is unclear, so this entry gives no origin.
What
Pork stewed with starch noodles combines pork belly, napa cabbage and starch noodles simmered in a soy-seasoned broth until soft. The noodles are made from potato or sweet potato starch and have a soft texture.1,3,4
Where
The Northeast. It is a representative dish of Northeastern cooking and appears as a traditional Northeastern food in a 2018 account. Its specific Northeastern province or city of origin is unclear.1,2,3,4
How
There are 2 methods. One slices the pork belly, fries it for about 3 minutes, adds scallion, ginger and dried chilies, then soy sauce and cooking wine, pours in water with star anise, cassia and fennel, simmers for 30 minutes, and adds napa cabbage and soaked noodles for about 10 more minutes. The other cubes and blanches the pork belly, caramelizes sugar and sears the pork, adds spices, soy sauce and soybean paste, braises it in a clay pot or heavy pot for about 1.5 hours, and adds noodles soaked for 1 hour with the cabbage stems, putting the leaves in last.3,4
Why
The Northeast grows a lot of potatoes, so local starch noodles are often made from potato starch. The dish is suited to cold winters.3,4
Impact and influence
It is a representative dish of Northeastern cooking and appears in a 2018 account as a traditional Northeastern food adapted to local taste.1,2
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler version I make at home, in the Northeastern home-cooking way, with sliced pork belly, no blanching and no caramelized sugar. The amounts follow the earlier signed recipe: 340 g pork belly, 285 g napa cabbage, 60 g dried potato noodles, and 1 tablespoon each of light soy sauce and wine, and so do the 30-minute simmer and the roughly 10 more minutes with the cabbage and noodles; the conversion of the water from cups to milliliters is mine. The amounts of star anise and cassia and the check at the end are my own. The later recipe comes from a recipe publisher that names no individual author and makes large cubes of pork belly braised for about an hour and a half; I mention it just for comparison and do not use its method below.
Ingredients
- Pork belly 340 g, sliced about 6 mm thick
- Cooking oil 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
- Scallions 3, cut into sections
- Ginger a piece about 2.5 cm long, sliced
- Dried chilies 2
- Light soy sauce 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
- Cooking wine 1 tablespoon (15 ml)
- Water about 360 ml
- Star anise 1
- Cassia bark 1 small piece
- Fennel seeds half a teaspoon
- Napa cabbage 285 g, cut into large pieces
- Dried potato starch noodles 60 g
Steps
- Soak the noodles in warm water for 30 minutes until soft, then drain them.
- Slice the pork belly about 6 mm thick, cut the cabbage into large pieces, cut the scallions into sections and slice the ginger.
- Heat the oil in a wok, add the pork slices over medium heat and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, until the outside changes color.
- Add the scallions, ginger and dried chilies, stir-fry for about 1 minute, and splash in the light soy sauce and wine.
- Pour in about 360 ml of water, add the star anise, cassia and fennel seeds, bring it to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
- Add the cabbage and the soaked noodles and simmer for about 10 more minutes, until the cabbage is soft and the noodles are soft and translucent.
- I cut open the thickest piece of pork belly: it is done when no pink is left and the meat is very tender, and if not I simmer it a few more minutes. I taste it, add a little more light soy sauce if it needs salt, and serve it hot.
Tips
- The noodles soak up broth, so I leave a little more liquid than in an ordinary stew; this is my own way.
- The later recipe cuts the pork belly into large cubes, blanches them, caramelizes sugar and braises them for about an hour and a half; if you want very soft meat you can try that way.
Allergens: soy, wheat