Introduction: Pork belly, also known as square meat or three-layer pork, is located in the pig's abdomen. The pig's abdomen contains a lot of fat tissue, interspersed with muscle tissue, creating alternating layers of fat and lean meat, hence the name "pork belly." The lean meat in this part is the most tender and juicy. The best quality pork belly comes from the front part of the abdomen, near the front leg, where the layering is perfect, with fat and lean meat intertwined and a pinkish color.
For more delicious pork belly recipes, we recommend the daily special: The Carnivore's Savage Feast.
Pork belly is cooked with its skin on. The skin helps thicken the sauce, adds shine to the meat, and creates different flavor variations. Pork belly has always been the star of some representative Chinese dishes, such as Steamed Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables, Braised Pork Belly in Fermented Red Bean Curd, Dongpo Pork, Twice-cooked Pork, Braised Pork over Rice, Stewed Pork with Pickled Vegetables, and Steamed Pork with Rice Flour. Even in small dishes like zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), they would be far less delicious without the rich oil from the fatty pork belly.
Nutritional Value:
1. Rich in copper, an essential micronutrient for human health, it has a significant impact on the development and function of the blood, central nervous system, immune system, and internal organs such as the kidneys.
2. Rich in fat, it helps maintain body temperature, protects internal organs, provides essential fatty acids, promotes the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and increases satiety.
3. Pork is rich in high-quality protein.
4. Provides heme iron (organic iron) and cysteine, which promotes iron absorption, and can improve iron-deficiency anemia.
Medicinal Food Therapy:
1. Nourishes blood and qi: Pork is rich in high-quality protein and essential fatty acids, and provides heme iron (organic iron) and cysteine, which promotes iron absorption, helping to improve iron-deficiency anemia.
2. Promotes urination and reduces swelling: It can remove toxins and excess water from the body, promote the metabolism of blood and water, and has a diuretic effect. It contains diuretic ingredients that can eliminate water and sodium retention in the body, promoting urination and reducing swelling. It can be used to treat difficulty urinating.
3. Tonifies kidney deficiency: For "cold" symptoms of kidney yang deficiency, such as lower back pain, cold limbs, and aversion to cold. For "heat" symptoms of kidney yin deficiency, mainly lower back pain, heat sensation, night sweats, spontaneous sweating, dizziness, and tinnitus.
4. Relieves constipation: B vitamins can promote the secretion of digestive juices, maintain and promote intestinal peristalsis, which is beneficial for bowel movements. Drinking pork soup can quickly relieve constipation caused by insufficient body fluids.
5. Resolves phlegm and relieves cough: Suitable for cough and other symptoms. It has a good moisturizing and physical therapeutic effect on the throat, which is beneficial for the healing of local inflammation and can relieve local itching, thereby blocking the cough reflex.
6. Promotes the production of body fluids and quenches thirst: Moistens the throat and relieves dryness, making people feel refreshed and comfortable.
7. Nourishes yin and tonifies deficiency: Replenishes deficiency and damage, benefits vital energy, moistens the lungs and kidneys, and is suitable for lung and kidney yin deficiency. It is beneficial for tonifying the body in cases of general debility.
Suitable For:
Those with damp-heat, phlegm, and stagnation should use with caution. Obese people and those with high blood lipids should not eat too much.
Consumption Tips:
1. Pork belly can be cut into small cubes or thick slices, suitable for braising, stewing, simmering, and also for making meatballs.
2. When cutting pork, slice it diagonally. The meat texture is relatively fine with little tendon. If cut straight across, it will become messy and crumbly after cooking. Diagonal cutting prevents it from breaking and makes it less likely to get stuck in your teeth. Do not soak pork in water for a long time.
3. Do not wash pork with hot water before cooking, as pork contains a substance called myosin, which is easily soluble in water above 15°C. Soaking in hot water will cause a significant loss of nutrients and affect the flavor.
4. Pork should be cooked thoroughly because it may sometimes contain parasites. If eaten raw or not fully cooked, it may lead to the parasitism of tapeworms in the liver or brain.
Homemade Braised Pork Belly
Ingredients: 500g pork belly, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 bay leaves, 3 star anise (also called spices), 5 slices of ginger, 1 section of green onion
Seasonings: 2 tablespoons (30ml) dark soy sauce, 1 teaspoon (5g) salt, 6 rock sugar cubes
Instructions:
1. Cut the pork belly into 2 cm cubes, slice the green onion, and peel and slice the ginger. Place the cinnamon, star anise, and bay leaves in a cooking bag.
2. Heat a flat-bottomed pan without oil over low heat. Add the pork belly and slowly fry for 2 minutes until the fatty part starts to render oil and turns slightly yellow. Then, flip it over and continue to fry over low heat.
3. When both sides of the pork belly are yellow, add the dark soy sauce and stir to coat evenly.
4. When the pork belly turns dark red, add the green onion, ginger, and rock sugar. Pour in enough boiling water to cover the surface of the ingredients.
5. Add the cooking bag, bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat, then cover, reduce to low heat, and simmer for 40 minutes. Finally, add salt, increase the heat to high, and reduce the sauce until it thickens.