WET WEATHER FOOD: MUI CHOI KAU YUK

Both of my food paintings today where of stuff the nutritionist down at Chinese Hospital, my regular care physician, both cardiologists, and several do-gooder berserk food nuts in Berkeley and Marin would consider unhealthy. Leastways not optimum.
The do-gooder berserkers would also consider them evil.

The first painting, featured in a post early this morning, was of a bacon cheeseburger. Personally I think the colours were lovely, and it looked nice and juicy.
Quite like the breakfast of champions.

The second painting, shown below, is of a beloved Hakka and Cantonese preparation.
Mui choi kau yiuk. Alternating layers of fat and lean.
Pork with preserved cabbage.
Comfort food.

The first time I had it was many years ago at a Hakka restaurant on Broadway which no longer exists, with two co-workers at from a hard drive company.
Neither of whom had goofy white-folks food hangups.

It was absolutely delicious.


Today would have been a perfect day to prepare it, except that I did not think of doing that until fairly late in the afternoon, after I decided not to leave the house for lunch because the weather is ghastly. Instead I fixed myself a very casual slop for over rice stick noodles.

Today was not a productive day. It was dark, gloomy, depressing, wet.

I'll head out to my usual restaurants tomorrow and Thursday. Have to do my grocery shopping in Chinatown and visit the pharmacy anyhow.



Mui choi kau yuk. Braised and steamed pork belly with dried mustard greens. Soak the dried vegetable for several hours, rinse well. Wash and parboil the hunk of meat with some thick sliced ginger, take it out and drain it. Fry in hot oil to colour and develop crusty edges, skin side first. Let it cool. Take it out and slice it thickly, arrange in a shallow bowl. Parch the mui choi with some of the grease and a splash of rice wine. Add sugar, slivered ginger, dark soy sauce, more rice wine, and one or two star anise. When good and bubbly spoon it over the meat. Put the bowl in the steamer at full boil for an hour and a half or so. Carefully lift out the bowl, place a big plate over it, and invert it so that the contents are on the plate with the mustard greens on the bottom, meat on top.

Serve with rice, other stuff, and sambal on the side.



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