Dongpo Pork

Dongpo Pork (dong po rou) Hangzhou's trademark dish. To eat dongpo pork is to begin to understand the role of fat in making meat taste good.

The dish is named after revered Song Dynasty poet, artist and calligrapher Su Dongpo, who is supposed to have invented, or at least inspired it. The meat should be so tender that you can quite easily pry it away in small pieces with chopsticks. As it is made from a slab of pork belly, there is a lot of fat, but the lengthy cooking time (3-1/2 hours) results in fat sans much of its greasiness. Eat as little of the fat as you choose. The accompanying ginger and plainly cooked broccoli also help offset the fat. You will need at least four hours to make dongpo pork during which time it is simmered twice, braised, sautéd and steamed.

Method

　　Blanch the pork in a pot of boiling water. Throw out the water.
　　Put the pork back in the pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 minutes.
　　Heat a wok and add the sauce ingredients. Mix well and bring to a boil. Add the pork and cook each surface for a few minutes over a medium heat. Remove pork and drain well. Pour the remaining sauce into a small saucepan and set aside.

　　Clean and drain the wok. Heat the vegetable oil to a medium heat. Fry the pork on all sides until it is well browned, making sure the skin side is a little crispy.
　　Steep the tea leaves in hot water for a couple of minutes, remove and set aside. Place the pork in the pot of water again–topping up the water if necessary. Add the tea leaves and simmer for 30 minutes.

　　Place the spring onion stalks on the bottom of a steamer. Transfer pork to the steamer. Steam for 2 hours, turning the pork after 1 hour (because of the long steaming time, you may need to replenish the steamer water).
　　Add the broccoli to the steamer for the final 5 minutes of cooking time (boil it separately for 3 minutes if there is no room in the steamer.
　　Remove the pork to a serving dish and arrange the broccoli around it. Reheat sauce in the saucepan, adding and stirring in the thickening. Pour over pork and serve.
　　Garnish with the young ginger slivers, which are meant to be eaten