Braised Pork Belly with Meigan Cai (梅干菜焖肉) by: Judy 0 Comments Jump to Recipe Posted:1/23/2021Updated:1/22/2021 Braised Pork Belly with Meigan Cai (梅干菜焖肉) is a much simpler version of Mei Cai Kou Rou (梅菜扣肉).Both are well-known dishes from Shaoxing, China, and they are equally scrumptious.  I grew up only aware of this braised version, as it was a common home-cooked dish, and we never ate out in restaurants.Mei Cai Kou Rou, on the other hand, has been more “elevated,” so to speak.

I think that due to it’s more delicate presentation, it’s more often seen on restaurant menus.  Nevertheless, both of these dishes are very festive and equally crowd-pleasing, especially around this time of year—with Chinese New Year celebrations on the horizon.  A Dish With Roots in Shaoxing If you’re a longtime TWOL reader, you’ve come to know and love Shaoxing wine, which we use in many of our recipes.  Indeed, this recipe does feature the region’s famous cooking wine—1/4 cup of it.But it also features Shaoxing’s other favorite ingredient—méigān cài (梅干菜), sometimes shortened to simply, méi cài (梅菜).  Bill and I visited Shaoxing a few years ago, and made a point of visiting the Shaoxing Wine Museum.While the museum itself was a little underwhelming, we really got a sense for not just how much Shaoxing wine is integral to the cooking of the area, but also how important méigān cài i

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