How to boil soft and sweet pork belly

1. Choose and prepare pork belly

Pork belly is a part of meat with many layers of lean and fat. There are two types of meat: upper and lower belly. The upper belly is the meat located close to the ribs and has a lot of fat, the lean meat is thin and a bit tough, and gets greasy quickly. The lower belly is the meat located under the pig's belly, this part contains muscle so the meat is firm, usually has 3-5 layers of lean and fat interwoven, the meat is soft, sweet and not greasy. You should choose to buy this part to boil it, it will be more delicious.

Pay attention to choose pork belly with a natural bright pink color, solid meat fibers, thin skin. When pressed, it has good elasticity. Avoid buying meat with changed color, strange smell, no elasticity and soft, mushy meat because it has been stored for a long time, not ensuring health.

Buy pork belly, scrape off the hair, rub with lemon and salt, then rinse. Salt and lemon help remove odors, while the citric acid and vitamin C in lemon help keep the meat fresh and delicious. To remove impurities, blanch the meat in 70-80 degree hot water, then remove and rinse.

The meat is carefully prepared and cleaned to help the boiled meat be fragrant and to take advantage of the broth to make delicious soup.

2. Auxiliary ingredients for boiling meat

To enhance the flavor of the dish, before boiling, add 1/2 onion or shallot and ginger, washed and peeled, crushed to release aromatic essential oils. Add a little white wine to remove odors as desired. Add some spices such as seasoning powder, seasoning powder, pepper to sweeten the meat and water. Some people add lemongrass, but the smell of lemongrass is too strong, making it difficult to use the broth for soups.

3. Boil meat properly

Boil a pot of meat broth with onions, ginger and spices. When the water boils, reduce the heat and add the pork belly to simmer. Boiling meat in hot water helps the meat fibers shrink, retaining nutrients and making the meat sweet. Boiling over low heat helps the meat cook slowly both inside and outside, moreover, the meat does not dry out or become white, but when cooked, it still retains a light pink color, beautiful like in a restaurant.

Depending on the size and thickness of the meat, the boiling time is different, usually after 15 minutes the meat will be cooked. Turn off the stove and cover the pot to soak the meat in water, it will be juicy, sweet, soft and fragrant without being red inside or black on the outside.

4. Delicious pork belly dipping sauce

Depending on each person's taste and each region, mix the dipping sauce accordingly. The simplest and most popular is boiled pork belly with salt, pepper and lemon. In the North, people often dip it in shrimp paste whipped with a little sugar and lemon. In Hue, there is sour shrimp paste, in Da Nang, it is often dipped in fish sauce. In the Southwest, boiled pork with linh fish sauce is very delicious. This dish is simple, easy to make, and easy to please everyone's taste buds regardless of the season of the year.