Ingredients
Method
1.Place beans in small bowl, cover with cold water; stand overnight.
2.Place pork on board, rind-side up; using sharp knife, score pork by making shallow cuts diagonally in both directions at 1cm intervals. Rub combined salt and half the five-spice into cuts; slice pork into 10 pieces. Place pork, rind-side up, on tray, cover loosely; refrigerate overnight.
3.Preheat oven to 240°C (220°C fan-forced).
4.Rinse beans under cold water; drain. Place beans in medium saucepan of boiling water; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until tender. Drain.
5.Meanwhile, place pork on metal rack set over shallow baking dish; roast, uncovered, 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 160°C/140°C fan-forced; roast pork, uncovered, about 45 minutes or until crackling is browned and crisp. Cut pork pieces in half.
6.Place beans in large saucepan with the water, stock, chilli, star anise, ginger, sauce and remaining five-spice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir in choy sum and onion.
7.Serve bowls of soup topped with pork.
Since the beans have to be soaked overnight in any case, the pork benefits from being prepared the day before and refrigerated overnight. This helps the rind dry out, which, in turn, ensures a crisp crackling at the end of cooking. We suggest you make your own stock for this recipe; It’s a good idea to serve this soup in large shallow bowls, so that the pork stands up out of the soup, allowing the crackling to remain crisp.
Note
