Come Taste Fragrant Steamed Free-Range Mountain Pig on the Second Day of the New Year
The finest ingredients call for the simplest cooking. How is the best way to enjoy the free-range mountain pig from Mutongxin Farm? Wu Longlong shares his method for Fragrant Steamed Pork Belly – come and taste free-range mountain pig on the second day of the New Year!
Ingredients:
500 g Mutongxin Farm pork belly, 200 g plain flour, a small handful of Sichuan peppercorns, a small piece of ginger, a small handful of chopped spring onion, chilli flakes, lard (rendered from the fatty parts of the pork belly), salt, five-spice powder, sesame oil.
Method:
1. Rinse the pork belly to remove blood, slice into 5 mm-thick pieces and drain. Toss with ginger slices, Sichuan peppercorns, five-spice powder and salt; marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the lard, then fry the pork slices until they curl slightly. Remove from the pan and leave to cool briefly.
3. Sprinkle in the flour and rub quickly so each slice is evenly coated.
4. Lay the slices flat in a bamboo steamer, scatter over chopped spring onion (and chilli flakes), and place over the wok to steam.
5. Steam for 40 minutes, then drizzle with sesame oil and serve.
Tap 👉🏻What Is It Like to ‘Herd Pigs’ on the Loess Plateau? to read the story of Mutongxin Farm, and discover more ways to cook free-range mountain pig. To purchase, follow @Beijing Organic Farmers Market
Foodthink, together with farmers from the Beijing Organic Farmers Market, presents a New Year Recipe Collection made from their own ingredients.
There are no formulas measured to the gram or the minute in this collection, no elaborate or complex techniques.
What it does offer is a quiet certainty in the ingredients, a confidence born of truly knowing them, and simple, plain words of advice – the kind you would offer your own family.
With well-cared-for ingredients, there is no need to overthink. Simple, no-fuss preparation and the right amount of heat – that is all it takes.
Behind every dish in this collection stands a real person –
the farmers know where their ingredients shine, and they know how to cook them in a way that most honours that goodness.
When a block of tofu can name itself, a chicken can recount its résumé, and a radish dares you not to peel it – good flavour falls into place, as naturally as water finding its channel.
From the second to the seventh day of the New Year, six farmers share a New Year dish – one each day.
Grown with care, cooked with ease, eaten with confidence.
