Pork Belly and Daikon Soup – 五花臘肉萝卜湯

五花臘肉萝卜湯, or Preserved Pork Belly and Daikon Soup, uses sour Pickled Daikon to complement the sweetness of Chinese-Style Preserved Pork Belly.

In this recipe, I have used homemade Chinese-Style Preserved Pork Belly, and homemade Pickled Daikon to make a soup in which the sweetness of the cured pork is offset and complemented by the sour tang of the brine-fermented vegetable. The rich Chicken Broth base is enhanced with Ginger, Shaoxing Wine, and just a hint of Chili.

Ingredient Notes for 五花臘肉萝卜湯

For the Preserved Pork Belly, you can use a commercial product, many of which are easily located in Asian grocery stores, or on-line. If you like, though, you can try your hand at preparing your own dry-cured Pork Belly by following my recipe for Homemade Preserved Pork Belly.

As for the Daikon, I have used a brine-pickled, lactic-acid ferment product using my recipe for Daikon Water Kimchi. If you don’t wish to make this yourself, you can substitute with any commercial Daikon Pickle, or even use fresh. In the later case, however, or if you use a sweet, rather than sour pickle, like some varieties of Japanese Takuan Pickle, for instance, you may wish to add a splash of vinegar to your soup to get the desired sourness.

For the broth, use any good quality Chicken stock you like. There are good versions available commercially, or you can make your own following my recipe for Basic Chinese Chicken Stock.

The recipe calls for you to use Shaoxing Wine, which adds a nice depth to the broth, but you can substitute this with pretty much any rice wine, or even a nice dry-Sherry. Commercially prepared Sambal Oelek is also added, but, as noted in the recipe card, you can also just use a little chopped red Chili. If neither are available, you can use pretty any much any hot sauce, or chili paste as long as they do not contain too many other flavoring ingredients.

How to make Pork Belly an Daikon Soup

First, heat a little oil in a pot over moderate heat and then sauté the pork and daikon for a minute or two until the pork fat is just becoming translucent.

Next, add all the remaining ingredients and simmer your Preserved Pork Belly and Daikon Soup gently for about 45 minutes or so until the Pork Belly is tender to the bite, but not overly soft and friable. Remove the ginger slices, adjust for sweetness, saltiness, or sourness, if necessary, then serve hot.

Your Recipe Card for 五花臘肉萝卜湯:

Print Recipe

Preserved Pork Belly and Daikon Soup

This Preserved Pork Belly and Daikon Soup uses the sour notes of Pickled Daikon to complement the rich sweetness of Chinese-Style Preserved Pork Belly.

Course: Appetizer, Soup

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: Chicken Stock, Daikon, Pork Belly, Sesame Oil, Shaoxing Wine

Author: John Thompson

Ingredients

• ½ cup Preserved Pork Belly cut matchstick fashion
• ½ cup Pickled Daikon cut matchstick fashion
• ¼ cup of Greens Daikon preferred
• 3 cups good quality Chicken Stock
• 2 slices fresh Ginger
• ½ tsp. Sugar
• 2 tbsp. Shaoxing Wine
• ½ tsp. Sambal Oelek or chopped fresh Red Chili.
• ½ tsp. Sesame Oil.

Instructions

• Heat a scant teaspoon of oil in a pot over moderate heat and briefly sauté the pork and daikon until the pork fat is translucent.
• Add the remaining ingredients and then turn the heat to low.
• Simmer gently for about 45 minutes until the Pork is al dente.
• Remove the ginger slices and serve hot.