🧄🐷 Garlic Pork・Hong Kong-style Spicy Appetizer Classic Side Dish

Editor's Preface

Garlic-mashed pork belly is a must-try appetizer for Hong Kongers. The pork belly is tender and smooth, yet not greasy, and paired with a rich garlic paste and spicy sauce, it's refreshing and effortless, perfect for grabbing rice and clearing the plate! The recipe is simple, but the key is to ensure the meat is tender, the garlic is fragrant, and the sauce is rich and complex. We've combined local recipes with authentic ones, breaking them down in as many words as possible, so you can enjoy this Tam Tsai-style appetizer at home this summer!

Ingredients preparation

• 400-600g fresh pork belly (whole piece)

• 3 slices of ginger

• 1 scallion

• 1-2 tablespoons rice wine/Shaoxing wine

• Yan Xiaoxu

• A large basin of ice water (for cooling the river)

• Cucumber/carrot slices (base dish, optional)

Garlic Sauce

• 5-7 cloves of garlic (more for more fragrance)

• 2-3 tablespoons light soy sauce (or sweet soy sauce)

• 1 tablespoon black vinegar or aged vinegar

• 1-2 tablespoons chili oil/Sichuan pepper oil (to taste)

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

• 1 chili pepper (diced, optional)

• Chopped green onions and white sesame seeds for garnish

Detailed steps

🥩 1. Boil the pork belly until tender

• Wash the whole pork belly and blanch it in boiling water (to remove blood and other odors).

• Add water, ginger slices, scallions, rice wine, and salt to a large pot. Add the pork belly to the pot under cold water and simmer over medium-low heat for 30-50 minutes (depending on the thickness).

• The fish is cooked if you poke the thickest part with chopsticks and no blood comes out.

• Immediately chill in ice water for 10 minutes after cooking (to ensure the meat is smooth and easy to slice).

🥄 2. Making garlic paste

• Chop the garlic into a paste/use a garlic press to make garlic paste (it should be fine and fragrant so that the juice will stick to it).

• The garlic can be mashed into garlic paste by a machine with a little water, which has a strong flavor.

• You can add a little boiling oil to fry the minced garlic (to release the aroma immediately and keep the garlic tender and white).

🥣 3. Prepare spicy sauce

• Combine soy sauce, black vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, chili oil, Sichuan pepper oil, chili peppers, and 2 tablespoons minced garlic.

• Taste it. If it’s too salty, add a little warm water or more sugar. Adjust the spiciness as you like.

• You can also make your own sweet soy sauce (simmered with sugar, soy sauce, and water) to enhance the flavor.

🍛 4. Slice and serve

• Remove the pork belly from the ice water, dry it and cut into thin slices (preferably thin enough to be translucent).

• Place cucumber or carrot slices on the bottom, and stack pork belly slices on top (you can arrange them in a circle for extra points).

🥢 5. Garnish with sauce

• Spread the garlic paste evenly on the surface and add chopped green onions and sesame seeds to enhance the flavor.

• Before serving, you can add a teaspoon of chili oil or pepper oil, which will make it super fragrant and delicious!

Editor's Tips

• Put the whole pork belly into the pot under cold water and simmer over medium-low heat to make the meat tenderest.

• The ice water supercooling system ensures that it is easy to cut without breaking and is refreshing.

• The minced garlic can be partially sautéed and partially used raw for a richer texture.

• The proportions of homemade sauces can be flexible, and you can change the spiciness or sourness as you like.

• Authentic sweet soy sauce is simmered over low heat with brine, sugar, etc., which is very professional.

• If you feel it is too fatty, you can cut it with the skin on, or use plum head meat instead.

Eating experience 😋

Each slice of pork belly is tender, smooth, and dripping with garlic and a spicy, sour sauce. It's a refreshing, refreshing treat. It's a perfect vegetarian dish with noodles or rice, and never feels greasy.

summary

Garlic pork is the perfect light summer appetizer. It's quick, delicious, healthy, and packs in all the flavors of Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Sichuan into one. Try it at home tonight—I guarantee your whole family will be hooked! 🧄🐷🥒