Braised Pork Belly Slices, Kong Bak - Kong Bak Pau, the Chinese KB Burger

This is adapted from Pablopabla's recent post - Kong Bak, with some tweaking here and there (tweaked recipe below, I did my version with taro/yam). Because I want to have my cake Kong Bak, and eat it the Kong Bak Pau too!

Kong Bak - 2 words, essentially means braised meat respectively. Typically the bak or meat used are pork belly slices, pre- marinated in a mix of sauces - can be a traditional pass-down recipe, or a family secret, or as simple as that.

Kong Bak/Kong Bak Pau - Braised Pork Belly Slices with Yam (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
-1/2lb pork belly
-water for blanching
-6-8 cooked yam slices (~1.5cm width each)

Marinade:
-tbsp dark soya sauce
-1tsp oyster sauce
-1tsp cane sugar
-1tsp tomato ketchup
-1/2tsp white peppercorns
-1/2tsp five spice powder
-1/2tsp salt
-1tsp chinese cooking wine
-4cloves (from 1 bulb) of garlic, peeled and crushed

Method:
1. Blanch pork belly in hot boiling water for about 30-45secs. Remove from water and drain
2. Cut the pork belly into 1 to 1.5cm-width slices, and mix in marinade and leave it in the fridge, at least 2 hours or more
3. After marination, add in the yam slices, arranging them in between the marinated pork belly slices, then pour remaining marinade to drench the pork belly slices and yam
4. Steam marinated pork belly slices and yam for 1hr, then transfer them to slow-cooker
5. Cook in slow-cooker on low and continue braising (should take another ~2hrs) till pork belly slices are cooked to soft tenderness, as with the yam. By this time, the kitchen is smelling a whole lot like cooked Kong Bak!

Notes: The yam acts like a "thickener"...just like what a potato does in stews. If you want your Kong Bak gravy slightly thick(or starchy), you can add in some yam to do the trick. Also, the yam has a hint of sweet that flavors the Kong Bak as well.


Is this the Chinese KB burger?


Tag: kong bak, pork belly, kong bak pau, burger