Stewed Pork with Mushroom

My husband is feeling sick for the past few days. My in law is upset as my nephew is hospitalize due to high fever.

I decided to make them a comforting dish to cheer them up - my husband favourite Bak Kut Teh and my in law favourite stewed pork.

I bought the Uncle Seah's ready pack Bak Kut Teh, it has mild flavours of herbs as my husband dislike strong herbs. Add in some garlic and white peppers with prime ribs. Everyone love this flavourful Stewed Pork especially my in law. They finish the whole pot and only left a small bowl for us (which explain in the picture)! Lolz.

The gravy pair very well with hot white rice. Cook a generous batch of this stew and freeze the extra and warm it on a mid-week dinner.

Recipe: Stewed Pork with Chinese Mushroom
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
• 100g dried Chinese mushrooms
• 400g pork belly, sliced into 3cm pieces (i use 250g)
• 800g pork thigh, cut into 3cm cubes (i use 200g)
• 125ml dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 4-5 tbsp cooking oil
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 5 garlic cloves, skinned and bruised
• 2 star anise (optional)
• 2 tbsp sugar plus extra to taste
• 3 tbsp Chinese wine
• sliced chilli and spring onions, for garnishing (optional)

Method:
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and soak the dried mushrooms until they soften, about 15-30 minutes. Drain and reserve the soaking liquids.

2. Scald the pork belly and thigh with boiling water, and then season with the dark soy sauce and pepper.

3. Heat up 3 tbsp of cooking oil in a wok and brown the pork belly on all sides (reserve the meat marinade). Set aside. In the same pot, sear the thigh meat, adding an extra tbsp of oil if necessary. Set the meat aside.

4. In the same wok, add 1 tbsp of oil and fry the shallots until golden and fragrant. Add in the ginger, garlic, mushrooms and star anise, if using. Give all a good stir and then add in the sugar, Chinese wine, seared pork and reserved marinade. Cook and stirring for 2 minutes.

5. Pour in the mushroom soaking liquid until the water reaches 2cm below the meat, and then bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer and covered for 1hr 15mins or until the pork is tender. (i cook for 40min as i use lesser meat) Adjust sugar and salt to taste if necessary.

6. Serve warm, garnished with chilli and spring onions, if using.

if you are freezing, cool and freeze on the same day for up to a month. to reheat, defrost overnight in the fridge and warm the stew on the stove or in the microwave the next day.

Recipe inspired by: Celeste Chew - GoodFood