Hakka Pork Belly with Taro (芋頭扣肉)

Make the marinade:

1. In a bowl, combine red bean curd, rose wine, sugar, 5-spice powder, salt, black pepper, shallot and garlic.
2. Mix well and set aside.

Prepare the pork belly:

1. Wash and scrape the pork belly skin under running water.
2. To a large pot, add in water, star anise, ginger and green onion.
3. Bring liquid up to a boil and add in the pork belly, skin-side down.
4. Boil the pork belly for 45 minutes, until cooked.
5. Once the pork belly is cooked, remove pork belly from the liquid (reserve for later) and place onto a large plate.
6. Blot the skin dry with paper towel.
7. Evenly coat the surface of the pork belly skin with dark soy sauce while still hot.
8. Perforate the surface of the pork belly skin with a bunch of sharp skewers.
9. Let the pork belly sit for 30 minutes.

Deep-fry the pork belly:

1. Fill a large wok or pot with peanut oil and heat over high heat.
2. Carefully deep-fry the pork belly with the skin-side down until golden brown.
3. Be very careful! The oil will splatter and explode. Tip: use a wok lid as a shield and cover right after sliding the pork belly into the oil. Once there is not much exploding sounds, lift the lid ajar a little to let the steam escape.
4. Remove the pork belly from the oil and submerge in a basin of cold running tap water for 1 hour to remove excess grease.

Deep-fry the taro:

1. In the meantime, deep fry the taro pieces until light yellow in color, about 5 minutes.
2. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towel.

Assemble:

1. Cut the pork belly into 1 cm thick slices.
2. Place the pork belly and taro slices in a large bowl.
3. Add the marinade ingredients to the bowl and mix well.
4. Arrange the pork belly and taro slices alternately (pork belly skin-side down) in casserole dish or loaf pan.
5. Add ¼ C of water or pork broth over the pork belly and taro.
6. Steam on high heat for 90 minutes, making sure to refill the steaming water when necessary.
7. Remove the dish from the steamer and carefully drain out any residual sauce into a small saucepan.
8. Carefully invert the entire dish over onto a serving platter.

Make the thickened sauce:

1. Into the small saucepan, add enough pork broth (or water) to top off the reserved sauce to about ¾ C total.
2. Stir in cornstarch to make a slurry and bring to a boil.
3. Once the sauce has thickened, remove from heat and add in 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.
4. Pour the thickened sauce over the pork belly and taro.