To make great tasting meals, you need to have a lot of love. Love enough to select your ingredients carefully. Love for the warm glow of the stove as things start to heat up. Love for the people you’re feeding, so they can taste in every bite how much you care.
Recipe by Knorr
Braised Pork Belly Japanese Cold Noodles
Serve this dish with a generous helping of pork belly and top it off with a runny egg yolk to add a dash of color!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Lor Bak/Kong Bak (Braised meat)
- 750 g Fresh Pork Belly
- 100 g Pork Skin
- 1 small packet 5 spice powder
- ground white pepper
- 65 g deep fried crispy red onions/shallots
- 6 tbsp sake
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 40 g Rock sugar
- ½ Knorr chicken cube
- ½ tsp Knorr Hao Chi
- 400 ml Water
- 1.5 tbsp Premium Dark Soy Sauce
- 4 tbsp Superior Light Soy Sauce
Beef Kelp Broth
- 1 small packet dry kombu (kelp)
- 4 g Bonito flakes
- 1 Knorr Beef cube
- 800 ml Water
Assembling
- 250 g Mountain Yam/Chinese Yam/Nagaimo
- 1 packet Spring onions
- 1 small packet White sesame seeds
- 4 fresh eggs
- 1 bag ice
- 2 packets Somen
- Pickled ginger on saucer
Instructions
- Prepare the meat by cutting into small pieces – same for the pork skin (blanch it first). In a medium size pot on medium high heat, sauteed the pork for 5-10 minutes till the fats have been rendered.
- Next add in five spice powder, hao chi & white pepper. Followed by rock sugar & saute for a minute or two. Then add in sake, mirin, soy sauce, & dark soy.
- Continue braising on medium high heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Add in crispy shallots, water & stock cube. Half covered with lid, and braise on medium low heat for at least 1 hour. Stirring every now and then to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn.
- While braising prepare a pot of boiling water on medium heat. Add the dry kombu in and leave to a gentle boil for at least 15 mins, then add in bonito flakes – a quick blanch for the flavor, sieve the dashi & add in the knorr beef cube & continue to cook till stock cube no longer visible. Leave to chill and put into fridge/freezer.
- Prepare the other ingredients for assembling. Grate the mountain yam into a bowl & set aside to chill. Chop scallions for garnishing. Cook the somen based on package instruction, after cooking, soak in ice water for a minute or two. Remove from ice water, and use a siever to remove as much moisture on the noodles as possible. Add in 1 tbs of oil from the (surface of the braised meato the somen to prevent it from sticking.
- To assemble, lay a handful of somen right at the center of the bowl. ladle 1.5 tbs of grated mountain yam on the noodles, followed by 3 tbs of braised meat on the noodles. Add a raw egg yolk right in the center and garnish with scallions & sesame seeds.
- To serve, bowl of noodles with chilled beef broth & pickled ginger on the side. There are 2 ways to eat this. Mix the noodles evenly and enjoy the taste of the noodles with mountain yam and the pork. Leave about half a portion left and add in chilled broth to finish up with the noodles.