China · Chinese

Steamed pork belly slices

A closing course of the Luoyang water banquet: pork belly boiled until nearly done, brushed with dark soy and fried to a date-red skin, chilled in water, sliced, stacked skin-down in a bowl and steamed until meltingly tender, then inverted onto a plate. Public reference · home adaptation, not a historical original.

105 minutes · 4 servings · Moderate

Steamed pork belly slices

Public reference · Home adaptation Tiaozi kourou is one of the four closing courses and is also called tiaozi rou kouwan; local reporting places it among the Henan eight-bowl dishes and as a centrepiece at Luoyang weddings and birthday feasts, described as rich without grease and deeply meaty. It shares the boil-fry-steam route with steamed pork belly with preserved mustard greens, but at a Luoyang table it is usually served inverted in a bowl with clear broth, laid with aromatics beneath and the skin face down. Published menus record the name only; this version follows public recipe sources and is not a one-to-one match to that menu. **This entry previously also cited a Zhihu column page (zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/492193137); in this pass Zhihu returned 403 to every non-browser client and the body could not be opened by either curl or web_fetch, so that source has been removed. The method here rests on the remaining openable sources listed above.****Name check**: 'tiaozi' refers to the pork cut into strips or batons, giving rise to the names tiaozi rou and tiaozi kourou; it does not mean lean-meat strips or rib. The main ingredient is still pork belly. Public methods agree on boil, fry, steam. The source uses a blowtorch to singe the skin; this version dry-singes the skin on a domestic burner and scrubs it, a substitute for equipment noted here. The source steams 50 minutes; this version uses 60 to suit home burners and block size, judged by whether chopsticks pass through easily. Quantities, seasoning ratios and colour depth are editorial for four; sweet bean sauce and oyster sauce are optional. Use a cloth between bowl and plate when inverting. Not kitchen-tested. Contains soy (soy sauce, sweet bean sauce), wheat (sweet bean sauce, cooking wine), shellfish (oyster sauce) and sesame. This is a plain pork dish, not vegetarian. The frying oil is very hot, so cover the pan; bowl and plate are extremely hot at the inversion step, so use a cloth and ask for help. 搜狐（嘿嘿聊美食）：河南扣碗"条子肉"的做法，飘香四溢，肥而不腻还特别入味 — The boil-fry-steam sequence: singe and scrub the skin; boil the pork 30 minutes until a chopstick passes through; prick and brush with dark soy; fry at 60% oil temperature to a date-red skin with the lid on at once, then chill in cold water 10 minutes; cut thick slices and toss with soy, oyster sauce, sweet bean sauce, wine, seasonings and aromatics; stack skin-side down over aromatics in a bowl; steam 50 minutes; invert onto a plate and pour over the cooking liquor with coriander, scallion and chives. https://www.sohu.com/a/512545173_121287722 今日头条：大厨做正宗豫菜，河南老式条子肉，详细讲解制作过程 — Another public method: simmer about 15 minutes to 80% done, cool in water to prevent splatter, brush with dark soy; fry 2 minutes at 60% oil temperature to set; slice about 3 mm thick, noting slices that are too thin break up and those too thick take on little flavour and feel greasy. https://www.toutiao.com/article/6746750042125632004/ FDA: Food Allergies — Basis for declaring soy, wheat (sweet bean sauce and cooking wine), shellfish (oyster sauce) and sesame allergens. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/food-allergies AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.

Ingredients

  • pork belly in one piece, about 600 g600 g
  • dark soy sauce for colouring20 ml
  • light soy sauce20 ml
  • cooking oil for frying500 ml
  • scallion, sections and chopped30 g
  • ginger, sliced and shredded20 g
  • star anise2 piece
  • Sichuan peppercorn3 g
  • cooking wine30 ml
  • oyster sauce, optional15 ml
  • sweet bean sauce, optional20 g
  • white sugar10 g
  • salt3 g
  • five-spice powder1 g
  • yellow Chinese chive, cut into lengths30 g
  • coriander, cut into lengths15 g
  • sesame oil5 ml

Directions

  1. 1

    Cut the pork belly into large pieces. Singe the skin in a dry pan until it blackens, about 1 minute, then scrub the surface clean with a wire brush and water.

  2. 2

    Cover the meat with water with the scallion, ginger, cooking wine and peppercorn. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim the scum and simmer 30 minutes, until a chopstick passes through easily.

  3. 3

    Lift out and drain, prick the skin lightly with a toothpick and brush it evenly with dark soy.

  4. 4

    Heat oil to about 180°C, add the pork and fry 2 minutes until the skin is date-red and bubbling, covering the lid at once to stop splatter. Lift out straight into cold water for 10 minutes, which makes the skin bubble and turn sticky.

  5. 5

    Lift out, pat dry and cut into slices about 3 mm thick. Add light and dark soy, oyster sauce, sweet bean sauce, cooking wine, salt, sugar, five-spice, scallion, ginger and peppercorn and mix well by hand, then rest 20 minutes.

  6. 6

    Line the bowl with scallion, ginger and star anise, then stack the slices skin-side down, pressed together neatly. Steam 60 minutes over high heat until chopsticks pass through without resistance.

  7. 7

    Place a plate over the bowl and invert it onto the serving plate in one quick movement, steadying both ends with a cloth. Spoon over the reserved cooking liquor, arrange the chives, coriander and chopped scallion, and finish with sesame oil.

Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.