GLASS NOODLES WITH SALTED PORK BRAISED DAIKON
Jiachang cai (家常菜) is the Chinese phrase for cooking done at home or in the family kitchen. Restaurants don’t serve a lot of salted pork.
Simple home-style dishes like this Braised Daikon dish, which features salted pork as the star ingredient, are more likely to appear on family dinner tables. Salted pork takes center stage whenever it appears in a meal.
Sauteing salted pork on top of rice or slicing it into tiny bits and adding it to stir-fries are two other options for using salted pork. Salted pork has also been used in various Chinese soups, including fish soups.
Chinese salted pork has the added benefit of serving as a taste enhancer. I hope this lesson gives you some ideas and the freedom to create with your salted pork because it adds so much depth and umami flavor to foods.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 tbsp. of oil
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 3 scallions (separate the white parts from the green parts)
- 5 oz. of salted pork belly (140g, sliced)
- 1½ pounds of daikon radish (cut into small pieces)
- 3½ cups of chicken stock
- 75 grams of mung bean vermicelli (2 small bundles)
- ½ tsp. of sesame oil
- ¼ tsp. of white pepper
- Salt (to taste)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a wok, heat the oil to medium-high heat. Salty pork belly and garlic should be cooked for around two minutes until the pig fat is translucent. Then, add the daikon and mix it in well. Cook the daikon for 15 minutes in a covered pot over medium heat, occasionally stirring, until fork-tender but firm to the bite.
- After rinsing the glass noodles, put them into a cold water bath for five minutes. Drain the water and set it away for later use. Add the sesame oil, white pepper, and salt after 15 minutes of simmering. There should be a good blending of all of the ingredients. The glass noodles should be placed on top of the daikon and simmered for an additional three minutes with the lid on. Remove the scallions’ green portions and mix them in. Combine all ingredients with a quick whisk before serving.