Shangzhi Pork

Ingredients

• Pork belly with skin, boneless
• Shangzhi (also known as Osmunda fern, fern class, young leaves edible)
• Scallion
• Ginger
• Star anise
• Honey
• Vinegar
• Cooking wine
• MSG
• Soy sauce
• Scrambled egg pancake (thin)
• Fine salt
• Chicken stock
• Sesame oil
• Lard (rendered/pig fat)

Steps

1. Scrape and wash the meat. Place in a cooking pot and boil until six parts done (until color changes to white), then remove. While still hot, brush the pork skin with honey and vinegar.
2. Place lard in wok and heat over high fire until eight parts done (approx. 200°C, plenty of blue smoke, oil surface calm). Put the meat chunks into the wok with skin facing down and fry until golden red. Remove and put the meat into the previously used cooking pot to soak until soft. Place on a cutting board and cut into slices 3 inches (10 cm) long and 0.2 inches (0.6 cm) thick. Arrange them in a steaming bowl skin-side down.
3. Cut 5 grams of scallion into sections 2.4 cm long and cut another 5 grams into slanted slices 2.4 cm long. Peel and wash the ginger. Cut 1.5 grams into slices and cut another 5 grams into a minced (minced/green) form. Cut the made egg pancake into equilateral triangular slices 2.4 cm long.
4. Boil Shangzhi in boiling water until soft, remove, discard old stems and impurities, wash thoroughly, and cut into 3 cm long segments. Place them in a bowl, add soy sauce (5g), fine salt (1g), and lard (10g), mix well, and cover with the pork slices. In another small bowl, mix chicken stock (100g), soy sauce (5g), fine salt (0.5g), and cooking wine (15g). Pour this mixture over the steaming bowl. Place the ginger slices, scallion sections, and star anise on top. Steam over high fire for about 30 minutes, then continue steaming over low fire for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Once cooked and soft, remove, discard the ginger, scallion, and star anise, pour off and filter the original liquid, then turn the meat out into a soup plate.
5. In a wok, add chicken stock (100g) and the original juice. Bring to a boil over high fire, add minced ginger, scallion slices, and MSG, stir well. Add the egg pancake, brush with sesame oil, and pour over the meat in the soup plate.