Nam Yue Pork Belly / Red Fermented Beancurd Pork Belly 南乳炸肉

 

This is my family's favourite for the longest time. Then again, anything crispy is my family's favourite.  It is fragrant, crispy and full of flavour. It is amazing what some little pieces of red fermented beancurd can uplift a normal dish so much.

A little introduction to this red fermented beancurd. The Cantonese name is Nam Yue. It is used in a lot of Chinese cooking as a condiment or marinade. Some also eats it direct. The beancurd went through fermentation process to produce its unique taste and pungent aroma not unlike the western cheese. The unique red colour is obtained from the type of red yeast rice used in the fermentation process.

In this red fermented beancurd pork belly (or fermented red beancurd, whichever you prefer) recipe, I am using the belly part because I love the combination of some fatty juiciness with the pork. You can also replace it with pork ribs or chicken. 

My YouTube link:

This is just one option of how you fry your pork, you can also use a wet batter to fry this pork, Once again it is up to your liking.

Nam Yue Pork Belly / Red Fermented Beancurd Pork Belly 南乳炸肉

Ingredients

A

4 garlic

2 shallots

1 inch ginger

pounded/blended together

B

700g skinless pork belly (1 in strip), washed and dried

2 cubes red fermented beancurd /Nam Yue + 1 to 2 tsp brine

2  tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp salt or to taste

1 tbsp Shao Xing rice wine

1/4 tsp five spice powder

1 tbsp corn starch

C

1/4 cup corn starch

1/4 cup rice flour

Cooking Instructions

1. Blend/pound together ingredient A.

2. Mix together ingredients A and B. Marinade for 2 hours.

3. Mix together ingredient C. Drench pork strip in C. Leave aside for 10 minutes.

4. Fry belly strips in heated oil until cooked. Remove from fire and strain oil to remove dirt. Reheat oil until it just begins to smoke. Add the belly strips in again for another minute. Remove from fire and cut into pieces before serving.