Braised Pork with Dried Beans and Vermicelli

Soak the vermicelli for five hours in advance. The dried beans do not need to be soaked.

Cut the pork belly into large chunks.

Prepare ginger, scallion, garlic, star anise, cinnamon, dried chili, bay leaves, and rock sugar.

Place the pork belly in a pot with cold water.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then remove the pork belly and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan, stir-fry the sugar over low heat until it turns tea-brown. Add the pork belly and stir-fry over high heat to color the meat.

Add scallion, ginger, garlic, star anise, dried chili, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce. Stir-fry over high heat to release the aroma.

Add the dried beans and continue stir-frying to enhance the flavor.

Add water to cover the ingredients, then add the vermicelli, cinnamon, bay leaves, salt, and chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium heat and simmer.

Once boiling, cover the pot and simmer over medium heat.

This is how it looks after simmering for half an hour. If you prefer chewy pork belly, you can serve it now (though the pork may not be fully flavored yet). I prefer softer meat, so I added some cold water and continued simmering over low heat.

Simmer over low heat for another twenty minutes, then serve!

It's so delicious with rice! Keep more sauce to mix with the rice—it's incredibly fragrant!