Suan Ni Bai Rou (Boiled Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce)

October 2, 2021Mrs. Lin's Kitchen
boiled sliced pork with garlic sauce Suan Ni Bai Rou

Suan Ni Bai Rou or boiled sliced pork with garlic sauce is an authentic appetizer that is very easy to make. The main ingredient is pork belly, serve with a few veggie options such as cucumber and tomato.

Suan Ni Bai Rou can be translated loosely as “white meat with grated garlic”; suan ni means grated garlic and bai rou is white meat. Don’t be fooled by how complex and fancy this dish is usually presented. It’s actually very simple to make. The key is to boil the pork with rice wine, ginger, and star anise until tender and juicy with no porky smell.

boiled sliced pork with garlic sauce Suan Ni Bai Rou

The choice of meat cut for the sliced pork with garlic sauce is usually pork belly. If you want to use something leaner, you can use pork shoulder. However, keep in mind that the meat texture will be firmer after being boiled than the pork belly. With the pork belly, you can even slice off the skin before boiling if you don’t like it. I found that the skin adds texture to the meat.

If you don’t have rice wine, cooking wine or sake works fine, too. In this recipe, I use 1/2 tsp of hot chili oil in the sauce. Depending on your liking, you can use more or less. It’s okay to leave this ingredient out of the sauce if you’re not good with spicy food.

It’s very important to have all the ingredients (the pork belly, cucumber, and tomato) thinly sliced. Make sure your knife is sharp and go as slow as you need. If you still have trouble slicing the pork belly, place it in the refrigerator for a little bit before cutting will make it firmer.

Suan Ni Bai Rou Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb of pork belly 
  • 1 tbsp of rice wine (cooking wine or sake)
  • 1 star anise
  • 2 cucumbers (thinly sliced)
  • 1 medium tomato (thinly sliced)
  • 2 tsp of grated garlic
  • 1 tsp of sugar
  • 2 tbsp of soy sauce
  • 1 tsp of sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp of hot chili oil (optional)
  • 5 slices of ginger
  • Sliced green onion or cilantro for garnish 
  • 8 cups of water

Visit My Asian Tablewares Store

View Print Layout
Print Recipe
Close Print

Suan Ni Bai Rou (Boiled Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb pork belly
  • 1 tbsp rice wine, (cooking wine or sake)
  • 1 star anise
  • 2 cucumbers, (thinly sliced)
  • 1 medium tomato, (thinly sliced)
  • 2 tsp grated garlic
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp hot chili oil
  • 4-5 slices ginger
  • sliced green onion or cilantro
  • 8 cups water

Method

Boil the Pork Belly

  • 1)

    Thinly slice few pieces of ginger. You don’t need to peel the skin but make sure to rinse the ginger thoroughly before cutting. 

  • 2)

    Fill a pot with about 8 cups of water. Add the ginger slices, pork belly, 1 tbsp of rice wine, and 1 star anise. Bring it to a boil. Once the water starts to boil, cover with a lid and lower the heat to medium-low. Continue to cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat and let the pork belly cool off in the broth for about an hour.

Prepare Other Ingredients

  • 1)

    Thinly slice the tomato and cucumber. You can use a mandoline slicer if you have one.

  • 2)

    Chop the green onion. This will be used for garnishing. You can also use cilantro.

  • 3)

    Grate some garlic.

Make the Garlic Sauce

  • 1)

    Mix 2 tbsp of soy sauce with 1 tsp of sugar until the sugar is fully dissolved. Next, add 2 tsp of grated garlic, 1 tsp of sesame oil, and 1/2 tsp of hot chili oil. Stir well to combine all the ingredients together.

Cut the Boiled Pork Belly

  • 1)

    There is no right or wrong way of cutting the pork belly for this dish. You just need to make sure each piece of meat is very thin. I cut the whole pork belly in half first. And then thinly slice against the grain. If your pork belly is not cool enough for cutting, you can put it in the refrigerator for a little bit. The pork belly will be cooler and firmer so you can easily cut it into thin slices. 

Serve Suan Ni Bai Rou

  • 1)

    Place the cucumber slices around the edge of the plate. Next, place the tomato on top of the cucumber. And add the pork belly slices in the middle. Finally, drizzle the sauce on the top. Sprinkle some green onion. 

Nutrition

You may also like

Previous Recipe Next Recipe