Feast on meaty treat as Beijing goes gray

Stay warm this winter with some old-fashioned home cooking, Chinese-style that is.

The variety of leafy vegetables available in the north during the winter months is certainly limited.

However, big cabbage, white turnips, green turnips, red turnips and leeks can be easily found on market stands around Beijing.

Many old-timers in the capital will fondly recall the days when large cabbages were the main vegetable available in the cold winter months, when they were piled high on windowsills and tiled roofs around the city - a sure sign that the cold had arrived.

Despite the shortage of leafy vegetables in the winter, housewives knew that many savory dishes could be made using tasty pickled vegetables, including doujiao (brined long yard bean), suancai (brined cabbage), or a popular dish such as meicai kourou, which was made with belly pork and dried mustard greens - just the dried mustard greens alone will be enough to make the mouth water.

Even though it is made with fatty pork, meicai kourou is not greasy and is a suitable dish to fend off the winter chill.

Most people may not know this, but this dish is closely associated with the Hakkas, or kejia ren - literally Guest People - who originated in the north in the cradle of Chinese civilization along the Yellow River basin.

Due to war and political turmoil, the Hakkas fled south in waves as early as the 4th century all the way through till the late 19th century.

The principal migration came at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1278) when they settled in enclaves, mainly in the mountainous border areas of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Jiangxi, and as far west as Sichuan.

After moving south some 2,000 years ago, the Hakkas lived on some of the most uninhabitable mountainous lands where pickled vegetables, which could be preserved for a long period of time, became a significant flavoring of their food.

The Hakkas received some international fame when they appeared in Amy Tan's novel One Hundred Secret Senses, part of which takes place during the Hakka-led Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) during the Qing Dynasty.

The movement was orchestrated by one of the most famous Hakka sons, Hong Xiuquan, a man who believed he was the son of God and Jesus' younger brother. Hong almost succeeded in defeating the Qing Dynasty before his spread of control was stopped in Nanjing.

Here is step-by-step recipe to this hearty Hakka dish.

Ingredients:

1 piece of belly pork

1 tbs light soy sauce

1 tbs dark soy sauce Salt, enough to rub the skin

1 cup minced mustard leaves

Oil, just enough to crisp the skin

1 tbs light soy sauce

1 tbs rice wine

Pick a piece of belly pork that has layers of lean meat, fat and skin intact, about 3.5 inches wide.

Cook the meat in simmering water until the meat is easily pierced with a chopstick or bamboo skewer. Note: discard the first pot of water to eliminate impurities.

Remove the meat from the pot and drain it in a strainer. Brush the skin with a combination of both light and dark soy sauce while it's still hot. Rub the meat with salt. Set aside to cool and dry.

At this point, add a pinch of sugar to the remaining soy sauce which you brushed the skin with and marinate the chopped mustard leaves in it.

Heat some oil in a deep pot (because the oil splashes like crazy) to deep-fry the skin part until bubbly. Remove, drain and let cool.

Slice each of the belly pork pieces into about half an inch wide.

Return these slices into the frying pan, slow pan fry on both sides to remove excess fat.

Keep a little fat in the frying pan and continue to saute for a few minutes by adding light soy sauce and rice wine (one tablespoon each). Then take the pieces of meat out of the frying pan.

Put the minced mustard leaves (pre-soaked in cold water) into the frying pan. Stir-fry for a few minutes till the aroma of the mustard leaves comes out and then scoop it out.

Arrange the sliced meat, skin side touching the bottom of the bowl and then fill in with the minced mustard leaves.

Put the bowl of nicely arranged belly pork into a steamer and steam for at least half an hour. You will know when the dish is ready when the infusion of green mustard leaves, fatty pork and the simple seasoning of rice wine and soy sauce fills your kitchen.

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