"It's THE starter plate" —Mom

Pork belly cold cuts served alongside a bed of vegetables—Chinese charcuterie at its finest, according to Mom. ...Well, I may be paraphrasing, but you get the gist. It's a great dish for getting a large meal started and always makes an appearance when there's a feast to be had.

Simmered in a pho-like broth for a couple of hours, pork belly cold cut is pretty much the healthiest way you can eat bacon. The fatty layer on top creates a crunchy texture, the lean part holds the flavor from the seasoning—and marrying the two together: orgasmic.  

I consulted Mom this week when I needed help finessing a menu for Local Table, a farm-to-table pop-up restaurant, that hired me to work a dinner. Upon hearing the exciting news, in typical Mamma Li fashion, she said I wouldn't be able to handle the pressure and, really, I'm not good enough. 

Oh Mom, you're so predictable. "If I don't tell you the truth, no one else will"—a mantra I grew up hearing. On seeing my seventh grade school picture (which I thought was pretty good at the time), she purchased a few prints—not to display proudly like most parents, but, and I quote, "so you remember what you look like if you don't take care of yourself and wash your face—look at that acne, it's hideous." 

Yeah, that really happened. I found the picture in a photo album during a recent trip home (which, looking back, it was pretty bad, but hey, I was 12 and going through puberty—no one looks good during puberty) and showed it to mom, asking if she remembered what she said.

"Well, look at you, you did look awful," was her answer. But hey, I grew thicker skin because of her, so there's that at least. 

Mom's a realist who's not afraid to hurt my feelings. Despite her pessimism, I know she actually cares. After telling her the news of my gig with Local Table, she spent a sleepless night brainstorming menu ideas and giving me a list the next day, at which point I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to make for the appetizer and entree, but needed a starter. So we settled on pork belly cold cut, since its simultaneously interesting (re: trendy, i.e. you can buy the cut at Whole Foods) and simple to throw together.    

Prep: 1 hour Cook: 1.5 hours

INGREDIENTS (FOR 10)

PREPARE

1. Wash, pat dry, and salt the pork belly. Set aside for one hour. 

2. About 50 minutes into salting the pork, place spice pouches in a pot of water and bring to a boil. 

COOK

1. Submerge pork belly in simmering water for about 5 minutes, or until outside is no longer pink, then turn down to a simmer. 

2. Let pork belly simmer for about an hour and a half. It's done when it's ever so slightly pink in the middle.

3. Take it out of the pot and pat dry.

4. Rub the soy sauce all over the pork belly. Let it cool to room temperature, then place in fridge.

EAT

Before serving, slice the pork belly about 1/8 of an inch thick—that should be enough for a platter. As the name implies, this should be served cold, so it's best as a make-ahead dish.

As an alternative, you can toss the sliced pork belly onto the pan—then it magically becomes bacon, which also happens to encapsulate the taste of pho.