Soy Sauce Pork Stomach (豉油豬肚, Si6 Jau4 Zyu1 Tou5)

Pork stomach is an underutilized part of the pig, in my opinion, here in the USA, but are quite good when prepared correctly. Using the technique to make a poached soy sauce chicken, Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鷄, Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹), pork stomach can be made tender and tasty. The soy sauce poaching liquid gives this recipe its distinctive flavor. You often find soy sauce pork stomach in Chinese delicatessens.

Pork stomachs are commonly available fresh at your local Asian market. Unlike beef tripe (stomach), there’s a layer of meat on the outside of the stomach. The pork stomach is usually used as an ingredient in another dish and is not eaten all by itself. You also don’t have to poach the pork stomach in soy sauce, for instance, if you make the 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). The poaching liquid also makes a good basis for a sauce, but is usually not used alone since it’s very salty.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

3 lb.	1.5 kg.	Pork stomach (豬肚, zyu1 tou5)
4 cloves	4 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), lightly crushed
2 slices	2 slices	Ginger (薑, goeng1), lightly crushed
1	1	Dried date (蜜棗, mat6 zou2)
1	1	Dried tangerine peel (陳皮, can4 pei4)
4 whole	4 whole	Star anise (八角, baat3 gok3)
1 stick	1 stick	Cassia bark (桂皮, gwai3 pei4) or cinnamon
¾ oz.	20 g.	One-piece rock sugar (冰糖, bing1 tong4)
2 cups	500 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 cup	250 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
5 cups	1.25 l.	Water

Equipment

		Slotted spoon
4 qt.	3.8 L.	Covered bowl
3.5 in.	9 cm.	Soak-out cooker to hold the spices
8 qt.	7.5 L.	Pot

Instructions

1. Put the lightly crushed garlic and ginger, dried date, dried tangerine peel, star anise, cassia bark or cinnamon, and rock sugar into a soak out cooker. Close and lock the soak out cooker before putting it into a large pot. If the rock sugar does not fit into the soak out cooker, add it directly into the pot. 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) of granulated sugar can be substituted if rock sugar is not available, in which case, add the sugar directly into the pot. Add the pork stomach, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, and water into the pot. The pork stomach should be covered by the liquid in the pot. If the pork stomach is not covered, add more soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, and water to the pot.
2. Heat the pot over high heat uncovered and bring the mixture to a boil. Skim and discard any scum or fat that rises to the top of the liquid in the pot. Cover and reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 60 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, uncover the pot, and remove the pork stomach with a slotted spoon, saving most of the poaching liquid in a heat proof covered bowl. The pork stomach can be refrigerated in the poaching liquid, if desired. The pork stomach are normally used as the basis for other dishes and not eaten alone, and the poaching liquid can be used as the basis for sauces in other dishes. The poaching liquid by itself is usually too salty to be used alone, so it needs to be made a component of a sauce.