Chinese Recipe : Belly Pork with Fermented Bean Curd

Ingredients:

• 600g belly pork with skin
  
• 500g (medium sized) taro (yam)

Meat marinate:

• 3 cubes fermented red bean curd (nam yue)
  
• 3 tbsp Chinese rice wine
  
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
  
• 2 pips garlic, pounded
  
• ½ tsp five-spice powder
  
• ½ tsp white pepper powder

Taro marinade:

• 1 cube fermented red bean curd
  
• ¼ tsp five-spice powder
  
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine

¼ cup oil for deep-frying pork
¼ cup oil for deep-frying yam

Directions:

1. Scald the strip of pork with boiling water. Using a fork, prick the skin all over.
2. Season the pork with the meat marinade for about 20 minutes before deep frying in hot oil until it just begins to brown. (Reserve the leftover marinade for later use)
3. Dish out and drain pork on paper towels and when it is cool enough to handle, slice the pork about 1 cm thick.
4. Season the pork slices again with the leftover meat marinade. Set aside.
5. Skin and slice the taro 1 cm thick. Trim the sides so that the taro slices are about the size of the pork slices. Season taro slices with the taro marinade.
6. Deep fry the taro in hot oil for about 1 minute so that the taro will not disintegrate during steaming. You may need to do this in batches to ensure the taro are well submerged in oil when deep frying. Dish out and drain.
7. Assemble into a loaf tin or steaming bowl by alternately sandwiching a slice of pork with a slice of taro.
8. Steam on medium heat for about an hour or until meat is tender yet firm.
9. Unmould unto a plate before serving with rice.