Home cooking · Xianyitang dried ingredients
Dried long beans soak up a savoury soy braise, their supple texture contrasting with tender pork belly. Ginger, star anise and bay add aroma to a weekend sharing dish served with rice.
Times are estimates and include the soaking, proofing or chilling stated below. Some preparation can overlap. Check the ingredient and finished-dish conditions described in the method.
Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.
Pick over and rinse 50 g dried beans. Cover with about 1 litre cold drinking water for 30–60 minutes until flexible with no dry hard core. Change water and continue if needed. Discard the water, rinse, drain and cut into roughly 5 cm lengths. If a longer soak is needed, continue covered in a fridge at 5°C or below. They still require thorough cooking.
Do not rinse raw pork under a running tap. Cover the cubes with cold water in a pan, bring to the boil and blanch for about 3–5 minutes, skimming foam. Lift out with a slotted spoon; gently remove any clinging foam in a bowl of clean water if needed. Discard the blanching water and clean the pan and raw-meat utensils.
Put pork, ginger, star anise, bay, soy sauces, sugar and 800 ml fresh water in a clean heavy pan, with the meat mostly submerged. Bring to the boil, partially cover and simmer gently for about 30 minutes.
Add the hydrated beans, return to the boil, partially cover and simmer for about 60–90 minutes or longer. Stir and check every 20 minutes, adding hot water to prevent drying. Beans must be cooked throughout without hard centres and pork fork-tender; check the thickest meat reaches 75°C for 30 seconds.
Once everything is cooked and tender, remove the whole star anise, bay leaf and large ginger slices. Uncover and reduce over medium heat for about 5–10 minutes, turning gently until the sauce coats the meat and beans without drying or scorching. Taste before adding any extra salt and serve hot.
Contains soya and commonly wheat in the soy sauces. The Xianyitang dried-ingredient packs state that they are packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Check the actual labels of every brand used.
Keep raw meat and rehydrated beans refrigerated at 5°C or below; follow the raw-meat pack instructions. Separate raw and cooked utensils and clean hands and surfaces after handling raw meat. Divide leftovers into shallow containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 48 hours or freeze. Reheat only once until steaming hot throughout.
