#秋日生活打卡季#
As the saying goes: "The pork belly is fragrant, and the sweet and sour taste is long." "In the small town of Jiangnan Water Town, there is a small restaurant called "Wei Jiangnan", and the owner, Ah Ming, is a chef who has a soft spot for sweet and sour pork belly. Whenever the sun sets, a sweet and sour aroma wafts from the restaurant, attracting passers-by.
"Amin, why is your sweet and sour pork belly so delicious?" Old customer Lao Wang asked while eating.
"The secret is to be attentive." Amin replied with a smile.
"Intentions? So why is the color of this pork belly so red and bright? Xiao Li next to him asked curiously.
"That's a credit to the sugar and the heat." Amin said mysteriously.
"Why does it smell so good?" Xiao Li continued to ask.
"Haha, that's my secret weapon." Amin pretended to be mysterious.
Just then, an uninvited guest arrives at the restaurant, who claims to be a food critic and challenges Amin's sweet and sour pork belly. He asked Amin to make a more delicious sweet and sour pork belly dish in three days, otherwise he would have to criticize it openly in the newspapers. Amin accepted the challenge, but was a little apprehensive.
Three days later, the restaurant was packed with people, and everyone wanted to see how Amin responded. I saw that Ah Ming was not in a hurry, put the pork belly in the pot, stir-fried, seasoned, and collected the juice, and every step was so skillful. Eventually, a plate of sweet and sour pork belly with a bright red color and sweet and sour flavor was served, and the critic tasted it, and was immediately full of praise and admitted that he had lost.
Description:
Sweet and sour pork belly, a traditional delicacy originating from the south of the Yangtze River, carries a profound cultural heritage. It is not only a dish, but also the yearning and pursuit of a better life for Jiangnan people. The sweet and sour taste, the fat but not greasy of the pork belly, every bite is the ultimate temptation for the taste buds.
Cooking process:
Ingredients:
- 500 grams of pork belly
- 50 grams of sugar
- Balsamic vinegar 30 ml
- Light soy sauce 20ml
- Dark soy sauce 10ml
- Ginger 5 grams
- Green onion 10 grams
- Garlic 3 cloves
- Cooking wine 15 ml
- Salt to taste
- Water starch to taste
Cooking Steps:
- Prepare the pork belly: Clean the pork belly and cut it into 2 cm cubes. The key to this step is to make the meat pieces evenly sized so that they can be heated evenly during cooking.
- Blanching: Put the pork belly pieces into cold water, add cooking wine and a few slices of ginger, bring to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam, and remove the pork belly for later use.
- Stir-fry the sugar: Put a little oil in the pan, add the sugar, and slowly fry over low heat until the sugar dissolves and turns reddish-brown.
- Stir-fry the meat: Put the pork belly pieces into the sugar color and stir-fry quickly so that the meat pieces are evenly coated with sugar color.
- Seasoning: Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and balsamic vinegar and stir-fry evenly to allow the pork belly to fully absorb the flavor of the seasoning.
- Bring to a boil with enough water, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 40 minutes until the pork belly is cooked through.
- Collect the juice: Finally, add the water starch to thicken, turn to high heat to reduce the juice until the soup is thick and the surface of the pork belly is covered with a shiny sweet and sour sauce.
Regional Flavors:
In different places, the flavor of sweet and sour pork belly is also different. In Jiangnan, people like to use red vinegar and rock sugar to taste, so that the sweet and sour pork belly is moderately sweet and sour, and the color is red and bright. In the north, people prefer white vinegar and sugar, which have a more sour taste. The sweet and sour pork belly in each place is the local people's love for food and the inheritance of tradition.
Cooking Tips:
- The pork belly should be fat and thin, and the sweet and sour pork belly will be fat but not greasy.
- When frying the sugar, the heat should be small to avoid the sugar color being burnt, which will affect the taste.
- When simmering, the heat should be moderate to avoid the meat being stewed too badly and losing its taste.
- When thickening, the water starch should be appropriate, too much will make the sweet and sour sauce too thick, affecting the taste.
- Finally, the heat should be high to make the sweet and sour sauce thicken quickly, so that the surface of the pork belly is brighter.
Popular Science Knowledge:
- Pork belly is the meat of the belly of the pig, which is called pork belly because of its fat and lean mixture.
- The practice of sweet and sour can be traced back to the Song Dynasty and is a time-honored cooking method.
- The vinegar in sweet and sour pork belly not only adds flavor but also aids digestion.
- The fat in the pork belly releases its aroma during cooking, which is one of the reasons why the sweet and sour pork belly is full of aroma.
Sweet and sour pork belly, a Jiangnan delicacy that combines sweet and sour with plumpness, every bite is a tribute to traditional cooking techniques. Its color is bright red, sweet and sour, fat but not greasy, and it is an excellent choice for family dinners. Try your hand at home and enjoy cooking.
Question interaction:
- Do you prefer Gangnam-style sweet and sour pork belly or northern-style ones?
- What unique tips or secrets do you have when making sweet and sour pork belly?
- Which part of sweet and sour pork belly is your favorite? Why?
- What other sweet and sour dishes have you tried? Tell us about your experience.
Through these questions, we encourage readers to share their experiences and opinions in the comment section to make the article more interactive. Follow the Taste of Food and bring you more stories, knowledge and tips related to food.