Steamed Ginger Scallion Pork Stomach with Green String Beans (青豆角薑葱蒸豬肚, Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Goeng1 Cung1 Zing1 Zyu1 Tou5)

I first had this dish at a Chinese restaurant and the dish intrigued me since it was such a simple presentation. The pork stomach dish was topped with heated oil and soy sauce just like a steamed fish, and the pork stomach was very tender. The original restaurant dish only consisted of steamed pork stomach (i.e. no vegetables) and was served within 15 minutes of ordering. Pork stomach usually requires a long cooking time, so I started to think how this was dish made, and how I could reproduce making it at home.

My first try at making this dish didn’t produce the results that I experienced at the restaurant. Cooked pork stomach is available at my local Asian market, so I thought that I could save time, just cut the cooked pork stomach into strips, and steam it. The resulting pork was tough and required a lot of chewing! So that wasn’t the answer. For my second attempt, I started with fresh pork stomach (not cooked), and used a baking soda solution to tenderize the pork stomach before poaching the whole pork stomach with ginger, garlic, and Shaoxing wine. This turned out to be the solution. The baking soda not only removes any (as is commonly said) unwanted smells, it also tenderizes the pork stomach. The pork stomach needs to be submerged in a baking soda solution (i.e. baking soda and water) to make it tender, so don’t just sprinkle the baking soda on the pork. I added green beans to make a more complete meal that can be made in one dish, but you can leave the vegetables out if desired. The dish is topped with julienned ginger and green onions, together with heated oil and a soy sauce solution, just like when making a steamed fish.

A pork stomach dish is usually not the first choice of most people, but I think this dish will change your mind about eating this part of the pig. The tenderness of the pork, together with the taste of the toppings, together with heated oil and a soy sauce solution, reminded me of eating steamed fish. So give it a try.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 lb.	500 g.	Fresh whole pork stomach (牛肉, ngau4 juk6)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
		Cold water for tenderizing the pork stomach
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), lightly crushed
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), lightly crushed
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Salt (鹽, jim4)
1 cup	250 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
		Water to cook the pork stomach
1 lb.	500 g.	Green string beans (豆角, dau6 gok3), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
		Water to steam the pork stomach
1-2 stalks	1-2 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), julienned into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
1 in.	2.5 cm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), julienned

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sugar (白糖, baak6 tong4) or ground rock sugar (冰糖, bing1 tong4)
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	White pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
3 Tbs.	45 ml.	Canola (芥花油, gaai3 faa1 jau4) or other neutral tasting oil
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

Equipment

4 qt.	3.8 L.	Covered bowl
8 qt.	7.5 L.	Pot
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or small pan
12 in.	30 cm.	Steamer (or larger)
9 in.	23 cm.	Plate or bowl for steaming
		Plate lifter

Preparation Instructions (One Day Before Cooking)

Green String Beans in the Steaming Dish

1. Place the fresh whole pork stomach into a bowl. Add baking soda to the bowl and fill with cold water to cover the pork. Mix the beef in the baking soda solution, allow to tenderize for at least 45 minutes, and then drain and wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda cannot be omitted since this is an important and necessary step to tenderize the pork.
2. Place the pork stomach, lightly crushed ginger and garlic, salt, and Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry into the pot. Cover the pork stomach in the pot with water. Place the pot over high heat and bring the contents to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least one hour to tenderize the pork.
3. Turn off the heat and remove the cooked pork stomach to a covered bowl. Discard the remaining contents from the pot. Place the covered bowl with the cooked pork stomach into the refrigerator overnight.

Preparation Instructions (Cooking Day)

Cut Pork Stomach Placed On Green String Beans

1. Take the pork stomach out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
2. Wash and cut the green string beans into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. Place the beans into the steaming bowl.
3. Cut the pork into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) x 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces, and place on top of the green string beans in the steaming plate.
4. Julienne the ginger and put into a small bowl.
5. Wash and julienne the green onions into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces and place into the bowl with the ginger.
6. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small microwave safe bowl: add the soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, sugar or ground rock sugar, and ground white pepper.
7. Put the canola, or other neutral tasting oil, and sesame oil into a small dry bowl, mix together, and set aside. A dry bowl is important since any water will explode when the oil is heated in a wok or pan.

Cooking Instructions

1. Fill the steamer with water and place over high heat to boil the water.
2. Once the steamer is boiling, place the steamer plate with the pork stomach into the steamer for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to low to medium-low, and steam the pork for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the pork from the steamer using the plate lifter.
3. Microwave the soy sauce mixture on high heat until it just boils (to remove the alcohol; about 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending upon the strength of your microwave). You want to time this to be ready just after the hot oil is poured on the pork (see next step). You can also use another small pan to heat the mixture instead of the microwave. Alcohol has a lower boiling point (173⁰F - 78⁰C) than water (212⁰F - 100⁰C), so the mixture doesn’t have to boil. Be careful since the bowl will be hot when removing the mixture from the microwave.
4. Pour the oil from the bowl into a wok or small pan and heat until the oil is very hot. Pour the hot oil onto the pork carefully, since the oil will splatter as it hits the pork. Pour the soy sauce mixture onto the pork, top with the julienned green onions and ginger, and serve with Clay Pot Rice (煲仔飯, Bou¹ Zai² Faan⁶) or steamed rice.