Salty, savoury and yam-my!

Occasionally, my dad calls my mum ni and I've always wondered about it when I was a kid. I knew how to write my mum's full name by then and none of the letters seem to indicate an abbreviation of that. Out of curiosity I asked and my mum said it's short for aww ni (say it quickly!), properly written as 芋泥 which in Teochew literally means yam mud (paste). Obviously that puzzled me even more!

My mum explained the sticky sweet yam paste is very much a traditional Teochew dessert. I remember tasting it at a Chinese wedding dinner long ago and it was diabetically sweet! In short, it's my parents' old-fashioned and romantic term of endearment which is the equivalent to our sweetheart or honey :)

This dish was made with my parents in mind, for being so very Teochew and married for 34 years, oh and still holding hands while walking down the grocery aisle! I hope they're not too embarrass by this post :) Anyway happy anniversary!

Though it's not a particularly Teochew dish, in fact it's Hakka (as Ellie pointed out), just an array of Teochew style favourites, braising, soy sauce pork belly and of course, yam. It's usually served in Chinese restuarant but it can be just as fantastic making it at home :)

Ingredients

500-800g pork belly
300g yam (or 1 small-sized yam), peeled and evenly sliced
5 clove garlic, minced
3 shallots, minced
1½ cup water
½ piece red fermented bean curd (Nam Yue)
2 tsb dark soy sauce
2 tsb light soy sauce
1 tsb sugar (or 1 small piece of rock sugar)
1 tsb Chinese wine
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp black bean paste (optional)
1 tsb vegetable cooking oil, for stir fry
Spring onion for garnish

Adapted from No-Frills Recipes and Food Made with Love

Directions

Rinse pork belly clean and rub with coarse sea salt. Blanch meat over hot boiling water and set a side
Handle yam with extra care by wearing gloves while rinsing, peeling and slicing it. I didn't the first time and my hands were tingly (almost itchy) the whole day!
Rinse yam slices and rub with sea salt. Keep gloves on whenever picking up yam pieces or at least until it's cooked
Heat up a medium-sized pot with vegetable oil and stir fry garlic and shallot
Add yam slices in the pot and stir fry until yam are brown on all sides, dish it out and set aside
Using the same pot, stir fry fermented bean curd while adding dark and light soy sauce, Chinese wine, sugar, black bean paste and five spice powder
Bring to boil and add pork belly to shallow fry a few minutes until the exterior are slightly browned
Pour water to the pot and close lid. Turn heat down and let simmer for 30 minutes. At any point if the liquid is drying up, add ½ cup water each time
Add yam slices to the pot and let simmer for another 10-15 minutes, until all pieces are soft. Again add more water if necessary; more wine or soy sauces to retain the flavour. I did add an extra 1 tsb of both light and dark soy sauce along the way. Check regularly as yam absorbs moisture
Taste sauce and add salt if necessary. I felt mine was salty enough from the soy sauces without any extra salt
Sauce should not be too thin. Thicken it more by turning up the heat or braise a little longer
Once ready, turn off the heat and remove pork belly to a chopping board. Slice pork belly slightly thicker than the yam pieces
To assemble, alternate a slice of pork belly with a slice of yam and pour remaining sauce over the plate

Garnish with spring onion and serve with hot steaming white rice!

Braised Pork Belly and Yam