This is one of the most typical Cantonese dishes people make at home in Hong Kong. A more traditional version of it would be to use pork spare ribs, but in the UK it’s easier to get pork belly slices or use chicken thighs which are all equally delicious. Not only is the meat itself juicy and flavourful, there’s also no added oil in the dish so the liquid you see on the plate is pure meat juice and a bit of black bean sauce. Stir it in with your steamed rice, in Cantonese we would say, ‘You can eat double the amount of rice with a dish like this.’ What’s even better is, it takes hardly any time to make it, all you need to do is chop the meat to size, add the sauce ingredients then steam the dish for 12 minutes.

Tip 1: It’s best to use pork or chicken that’s not too lean as it might turn out quite dry. I always use pork belly slices or chicken thighs.

Tip 2: The oyster sauce gives the meat a delicious savoury flavour without drawing moisture out of the meat. You can use salt instead.

Ingredients

250 g pork belly slices or chicken thighs, cut into 2cm cubes
1 teaspoon chilli black bean sauce or black bean sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
¼ teaspoon cornflour
¼ teaspoon light soy sauce
¼ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic*
Spring onion for garnish

*Some black bean sauce like the Lee Kum Kee one I recommended above already has garlic in it, so you can skip adding extra minced garlic, or add less to taste.

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together, except the cornflour. I would let it sit for about 15 minutes while I prepare the rest of the meal, but if you don’t have time you can steam it straight away.
2. Just before you steam it, add the cornflour and mix well. Put everything in a dish that’s got a bit of depth so it can hold all the juice during steaming.
3. Steam for about 10-12 minutes until it’s cooked through. This will depend on the size of your meat but don’t worry about overcooking as a couple of extra minutes won’t dry out your meat.
4. Garnish with spring onions.

Did you try this recipe and how did it turn out? Share with me in the comments below 🙂

Janice xx

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