Five Spice Braised Pork and Cabbage
Instructions:
- In this dish, a generous amount of five-spice powder adds a lot of exotic flavor with very little effort. The powder, found in supermarkets, usually consists of equal parts of cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns.
- 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh orange peel
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1 medium head green cabbage (about 21⁄2 pounds)
- 1 large onion (12 ounces), cut in half, then sliced crosswise
- 1 piece (3 inches) peeled fresh ginger, cut into slivers
- 1 can (141⁄2 ounces) chicken broth or
- 13⁄4 cups Chicken Broth
- 1⁄4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar or cider vinegar
- long-grain white rice (optional)
- 1⁄4 cup cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
- Pat pork dry with paper towels. In large bowl, toss pork with brown sugar, five-spice powder, oil, orange peel, and salt until evenly coated. Set aside.
- Remove tough outer leaves from cabbage. Cut cabbage into 4 wedges; remove and discard core. Cut cabbage into 2-inch pieces. Set aside.
- Heat 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven over mediumhigh heat until hot. Add pork, in batches, and cook until well browned, 4 to 7 minutes, adding more oil if necessary, and transferring pork with slotted spoon to medium bowl as it is browned. (You may need to reduce heat to medium if oil begins to smoke.) Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Reduce heat to medium. To fat remaining in Dutch oven, add onion and ginger, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add cabbageand cook, stirring frequently, until cabbage wilts, 6 to 8 minutes. Add broth, soy sauce, and vinegar, and stir until browned bits are loosened from bottom of Dutch oven. Return pork with its juices to Dutch oven; heat to boiling.
- Cover and bake until meat is fork-tender, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
- About 30 minutes before serving, prepare rice, if you like.
- Skim and discard fat from stew. In cup, combine cornstarch and water. Heat stew to boiling over medium heat. Stir in cornstarch mixture; heat to boiling. Boil until stew thickens slightly, about 1 minute. Serve with rice, if you like. Makes about 11 cups or 8 main-dish servings.