Pork steamed in lotus leaves — a Fuchsia Dunlop recipe

Stir-frying may be the most famous Chinese cooking method in modern times, but steaming has been practised in China since the Neolithic era and is equally, if not more distinctively, Chinese. Originally, the Chinese steamed millet and other grains in vessels made from clay or bronze. Later, after adopting flour-milling technology from Central Asia, they steamed dumplings and breads. Now, they steam practically everything.

A fresh fish, cooked in the hot humidity of a bamboo steamer and then finished with a sizzle of hot oil, is simple to cook and stunningly delicious. Beaten eggs mixed with stock are divine when steamed into gentle custards. Steamed dumplings, chickens’ feet and meatballs are Cantonese dim sum staples.

In the past, food was often steamed for reasons of economy: a layer of dishes could be steamed above your rice for a one-pot meal. Steaming is perfect when catering for large numbers. I’ve attended rural weddings and funerals where great towers of enormous steamers are set up over makeshift stoves. Each steamer layer contains multiple bowls of one course, the stack a whole meal. The food is kept hot and can be distributed quickly when it’s time to eat. Steaming is also handy for reheating leftovers, especially for people who, like me, do not have a microwave.

The following recipe was first explained to me by my qi gong teacher in a Daoist temple in Chengdu. Slices of pork belly are marinated in spicy Sichuanese seasonings, clothed in a layer of rice crumbs, wrapped in pieces of lotus leaf and then steamed into sumptuous submission. The dish is a Sichuan classic and typical of rustic celebrations. And who doesn’t enjoy opening a parcel full of delights for dinner?

Pork steamed in lotus leaves — heye fenzheng rou 荷叶粉蒸肉

Makes 10-12 parcels; serves 4-6 as a main dish with rice and one vegetable dish, or more as part of a Chinese meal.

You can buy dried lotus leaves, fermented tofu and other ingredients in a Chinese supermarket. Fermented tofu is sold in white cubes in jars of brine or oil. The rice meal is sold in small cardboard packets, usually labelled “steam powder”, or you can make your own. The parcels can be made in advance and reheated before serving.

For the marinade:

For the rice meal (if making your own):

1. To make the rice meal, place the rice and spices in a dry wok and stir over a medium heat for 10—15 minutes, until the grains are brittle, yellowish and fragrant. Set aside to cool. When cool, discard the whole spices, and use a food processor to grind the rice to a coarse powder. (Otherwise, just use 125g store-bought rice powder.)

2. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium flame. Add the chilli bean paste and stir-fry until the oil is red and smells wonderful. Set aside to cool. Cut the pork into slices about 5cm long and just over ½ cm thick, each with a strip of skin. Add the chilli bean paste with its cooking oil and the other marinade ingredients. Mix well and leave to marinate in the fridge for about an hour.

3. Add the rice meal, salt, cooking oil and 100ml cold water to the pork, and mix well, making sure every slice is coated in rice.

4. Soak the lotus leaves in boiling water from the kettle for a few minutes until soft and pliable. (They are large, so you may need to turn them for even soaking.) Cut the ginger into fine slivers.

5. Fold each lotus leaf in half, then into three sections, so you have a roughly triangular shape with a rounded base. Using scissors, trim off and discard about 5cm from the point of the triangle, losing the hard veins at the centre of the leaf. Trim off any raggedy bits around the curved base of the triangle. Then slice along both edges of each triangle, thus cutting each leaf into six pieces.

6. Lay a triangle of lotus leaf, shiny side up, on your work surface with its base facing towards you. Place a couple of slices of pork near the base of each triangle. Press six or seven peas into the meat, and top with a few slivers of ginger and a small dollop of chopped salted chillies. Fold the two base corners of the triangle into the centre of the leaf, and then roll away from you to make a small, rectangular parcel. Once each parcel is secure, trim away any excess leaf. Repeat with the rest of the meat. Loosely pile the parcels fold-side down in your steamer basket.

7. To cook, either pressure cook the parcels for 40 minutes at high pressure and then allow pressure to release naturally, or steam over boiling water for two hours, making sure the pot does not boil dry. At this stage, the parcels may be set aside until needed (refrigerate if not eating soon).

8. To serve, reheat the parcels by pressure cooking for five minutes at high pressure or steaming for 20 minutes, either in a serving dish or directly in the steamer basket. Serve with rice (and other Chinese dishes). Allow your guests to unwrap the parcels with their chopsticks and eat directly out of the leaves.

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