Main ingredients:
Dried eggplant: 500g; Pork belly: 300g; Cooking oil: 2 tablespoons; Salt: 1/2 tablespoon; Scallion: appropriate amount; Small chili pepper: 2; Cooking wine: 1 tablespoon; Soy sauce: 1 tablespoon; Pixian Douban (broad bean paste from Pixian): 1 tablespoon; Ginger: appropriate amount; Minced garlic: appropriate amount.
Auxiliary materials:
Water: appropriate amount.
Taste: Salty and savory; Cooking method: Stewed; Time-consuming: Several hours; Difficulty: Ordinary.
Detailed Steps for Braised Pork Belly with Dried Eggplant in Clay Pot
Soak the dried eggplant until soft (I soaked it in water before going to work in the morning, which took more than ten hours).
Prepare pork belly, scallion, ginger, minced garlic, small chili pepper rings, and Pixian Douban.
Cut the pork belly into slices.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the pork belly.
Maximize the oil in the pork belly (this way, the pork belly will be oily but not greasy).
When both sides of the pork belly turn golden brown, add scallion, ginger, minced garlic, small chili pepper rings, and Pixian Douban to stir-fry.
Add the soaked dried eggplant and stir-fry.
Transfer the eggplant and pork belly to a clay pot for stewing (this way, the soaked dried eggplant can better absorb the oil in the pork belly, making it rich in oil and delicious). Add cooking wine, soy sauce, and water, and stir evenly with chopsticks.
Place the clay pot on an electric stove and stew for 20 minutes over medium heat.
Sprinkle with scallion before serving.
