Braised pork belly and Tau kwa

 
One of my easiest recipe is braised pork belly and Tau Kwa. Throw in some hard boiled eggs if you like.

Short-cut: use store-bought braising sauce as a base for preparing the stock.

After the stock is prepared and the first batch is cooked, subsequent meal preparation is super easy. I just have to strain the remaining stock into a clean container and refrigerate it for the next batch of braising.

Stock preparation:-
Half a bottle of sauce (I use Tai Hua Chinese Braising Sauce 305 ml), about 150 ml.
About 300 ml of water.
Optional:
About 100 ml of chicken broth.
1 stick of cinnamon, wash before cooking.
About a teaspoon of "five spice powder", which consists of coriander, cumin, anise cinnamon, star anise.
About 8 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed and peeled.

Notice that the amounts are approximate. It's a matter of personal preference. You can adjust the quantity of each spice. Even if you only use the store-bought braising sauce and just add water, it can be good enough as a start. 

Other ingredients:-
Pork belly, about 600 g.
Tau Kwa, about 600 g.
Eggs, about 4.

Method:-
Bring the soup stock to a boil. Meanwhile wash and cut the pork belly into one-inch strips. No seasoning is required. Place into the boiling stock. Bring to boil again. Then simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. 

While cooking, prepare hard boiled eggs. Also wash and cut Tau Kwa into big cubes. It's not necessary to season the Tau Kwa too. Bring the pot contents to boil again, add Tau Kwa and simmer for another 20 minutes. During last 5 to 10 minutes, remove shells of the hard boiled eggs and add to pot. Done!

This is super easy and flavourful. Good to eat with rice as it's rather salty. I like to cook a big batch as leftovers can be refrigerated and I just need to bring it to boil before consuming. Best part is: I can "recycle" the stock for future use.

Here's how. After you've eaten the ingredients, strain the soup stock (to remove the garlic & cinnamon etc) and refrigerate it. It's more savoury after cooking the pork belly in it. After refrigerating, you may find there's a layer of oil solidified on top. Just remove it if you prefer a less oily stock. For "recycling" into a new batch of pork belly or Tau Kwa, just add some braising sauce, water, and vary the quantities of the spices according to your preference. Sometimes I only add garlic and not the other spices. After this batch is done, remember to strain and keep the stock for future use, again and again.

This dish is one of my whole family's favourite.