Woo Tau Kau Yoke (Steamed Pork Belly & Taro)

Stocked with some taro and a piece of pork belly at home, I knew I had to attempt to make "Woo Tau Kau Yoke" (Steamed Pork Belly & Taro). I've had this dish a couple times and remembered mom making it at home too many years ago. It seems like a dish that requires quite a few different steps to achieve the final delicious dish.

I never knew that this is a Hakka dish until after some googling around, I realized that references were made that this dish is of Hakka origin. Anyway,  I decided to use Lily Wai Sek Hong's recipe for the "Woo Tau Kau Yoke" with minor changes. The verdict  - the dish was delicious... tasted almost like how my mom used to make it! Yums! Lily used a pressure cooker to steam the pork; I used the good old steamer and it worked out just great! Here's the recipe of the "Woo Tau Kau Yoke" with my changes:

WOO TAU KAU YOKE (STEAMED PORK BELLY & TARO) RECIPE
*Serves 2-3

Ingredients (A)

• 1/2 lb Pork Belly 
• 1/2 lb Taro (Cut to the size of the pork belly slab, and cut 7-8 slices)
• 1 Tsp Dark Soy Sauce
• 1/4 Tsp 5 Spice Powder
• 2 Tbsp Corn Flour
• Oil for deep frying

Sauce Ingredients (B)

• 2 Shallots, Peeled and Minced
• 2 Garlic Cloves, Peeled and Minced
• 1/2 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 Tsp Oyster Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• 1-1/2 Cube of Fermented Red Bean Curd (Nam Yue)
• 1 Tbsp Cooking Oil
• 2 Tsp Sesame Oil
• 1-1/2 Cup Water
• Slurry Mixture (Mixture of 2 Tsp Corn Flour  & 2 Tsp Water)

Method

Boil a pot of water (enough to submerge pork belly). Clean pork belly and par boil the pork for about 10 minutes. In a bowl, mix together dark soy sauce and 5 spice powder from Ingredients A. Remove the boiled pork belly and place in the soy sauce mixture. Coat the pork in the mixture and set aside.

Heat enough oil (medium heat) for deep frying and deep fry taro pieces until slightly golden. Remove and place on paper towel to drain access oil. Then, deep fry pork belly (skin side down) for about 7-8 minutes. Remove and soak pork belly for about 15 minutes in cold water to wash oil oil and regain moisture lost in deep frying. Then remove the pork, pat dry and slice pork into 1/2 inch pieces. 

Place 2 tbsp of corn flour in a bowl, and lightly toss the fried taro in some corn flour; ensuring both sides are coated. Remove the taro pieces and set aside and repeat with the sliced pork belly. Then using a deep dish/bowl, arrange the pork & taro slices, alternating each piece. Ensure that they are packed snuggly in the dish. Set aside. 

Heat wok with 1 Tbsp of oil. Add shallots, garlic and sauté until they are slightly brown. Add in Nam Yue and the rest of the sauce ingredients (B) except the slurry mixture. Let the mixture come to a boil, then stir in the slurry mixture and let the sauce thicken. Pour sauce over the assembled pork and taro dish. 

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in a steamer or a pot to let the pork and taro steam (over medium heat) for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours; until pork and taro are tender. Remember to check the water level of the steamer occasionally and add more hot water if needed. Carefully removed the steamed dish, place a serving platter over it and invert the dish. Be very careful as the dish is hot! Serve immediately with some warm rice.

June's Notes: Alternatively, instead of preparing the pork belly yourself.....save the work and buy a piece of Roasted Pork Belly (Siew Yoke) and cut them to size for this dish! It will taste equally the same, if not better!

I had to go through a couple different bowls to find one the fits perfect so that I can fit the pork and yam snuggly. I ended up arranging the pork and yam in my korean clay pot, covered it with foil and then the clay pot cover before steaming. 

Enjoy!

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Simply June