(and salt-cured pork with sweet wheaten paste)

For the pork: 1 kg pork belly, cut into 2″ strips, marinate in 1 Tbsp. Shaoxing rice wine or mirin, 2 Tbsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. saltpeter.

For the bacon: 3 kilos pork belly, cut into 2″ strips, marinate in cloves, cassia or cinnamon bark, star anise, 1/2 tsp. saltpeter, 2 Tbsp. Shaoxing rice wine or mirin, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. whole Sichuan pepper, and 3/4 cup salt.

Hang until dry, or until the neighbors ask why you have meat hanging in your garage.

For the pork: rub with 8 Tbsp. sweet wheaten paste, 4 Tbsp. fermented rice wine or Shaoxing rice wine, and 1 Tbsp. whole Sichuan pepper. Hang again.

For the bacon, combine 2 C. flour, 2 C. sugar, choice of peanut husks, cypress shavings (I didn’t have cypress shavings, used tea instead). Heat on two layers of tinfoil in wok and smoke the bacon for 20 minutes to 20 hours to taste.

After two hours, a lovely yellow hue, enough!

Lovely, lovely bacon, nice smoke taste on the outside:

T’other version got a beautiful rich dark red color. Steamed, then served with ground Sichuan pepper:

Yum!

-R