MEI CAI RECIPES

Steps:

• Add pork belly in a pot with enough cold water, add spring onions, slices of ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorn and 1 tablespoon of cooking wine. Bring the content to a boiling and then simmer for 20 minutes. Then transfer the pork belly out and Poke as many holes as possible on the rind. Those small holes can bring the rind enough wrinkles.
• Then brush dark soy sauce on the surface of the pork belly cube and set aside for 15 minutes. Pour oil in a pot (recommend 2 cm oil level). Drain with kitchen paper and fry the pork belly cube with rind downside. Cover a lid at the beginning so you won’t get yourself burnt by the hot oil. Fry for 6-8 minutes and then slightly fry the other sides too.
• Transfer the pork belly out and soak in warm water for at least 30 minutes until the rind becomes slightly soft.
• Cut the pork belly into 0.8 cm thick large slices. Lay those slices in the steaming bowls.
• Soak the mei cai with cold water and wash carefully. Drain and set aside. Add around 1 tablespoon of oil in wok, fry minced ginger until aromatic, place Mei Cai in and fry until dry.
• Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
• Top the pork belly slices with mei cai and place 1 bay leaf, 1 star anise and 4-6 sichuan peppercorns on top in each steaming bowls. We make two bowls this time. Drizzle the sauce evenly.
• Set up the steamers and steam for 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Then pour the sauce out so we can thick them in the next step.
• Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, and add the cornstarch to thicken it.
• Cover the bowl of pork with your serving plate and flip it over onto the plate. Pour the sauce over the dish and serve.

Steps:

• Put the flour on a large plate, add 1 gram of salt, slowly add warm water, and stir while adding water until the flour becomes a large flocculent shape. Stop adding water and knead it into a smooth and soft dough. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for a while. Until the filling is done;
• Soak the plum vegetables once or twice, cut one leaf, and wash it two or three times. Wash the sand attached to the vegetable leaves, remove the water and squeeze it dry, cut into small pieces, wash the pork and cut into large pieces, and put it together with the plum. Put it in a blender and grind it into minced meat. After serving, add 2 grams of chicken powder, 1 tablespoon of starch, 3 grams of sesame oil, add chopped shallots, stir evenly, and the filling is ready;
• Take out the dough, knead it on a chopping board and knead it into a long strip. Cut out a number of dough mixtures of uniform size. In order to prevent the dough from sticking together, sprinkle some dry flour on the surface, take a dough mixture, and roll it out until the edges are thin and the middle is thick. Dumpling wrapper
• The dumplings made at my home are much larger than the ones sold in the market. The skin is thin and the fillings are large. They are super satisfying. I put fillings in the middle and wrap all the dumplings for later use;
• Wash the tomatoes, peel them, and cut them into thin slices. The tomatoes are nutritious, sweet and sour, very appetizing, and the dumpling soup is very delicious;
• Heat a wok, pour edible oil, pour the tomatoes into the pan, fry until sand is formed, add a lot of boiling water, and continue to boil;
• Put the dumplings from the side of the pot. Don't turn the dumplings that have just been put into the pot. They are easy to rub and break. When the dumplings are cooked until the skin is set, mix it with a spatula;
• Cook until the dumplings surface automatically, which proves that the dumplings have been cooked thoroughly. At this time, add the washed lettuce, add a little salt, pepper, and chicken powder, mix well, and then shovel it for consumption.