chiuchow black pepper pig stomach soup 潮州胡椒猪肚湯

Chiuchow 潮州 cuisine is one of the least represented Chinese food in the West. Chiuchow 潮州, is the pronunciation in Cantonese 廣東話 of a region of Northeast corner of Guangdong 廣東 province. It is often referred to as Chaozhou as the pronunciation in Mandarin 普通話 . In respecting the proper pronunciation of the dialect of the province I prefer Chiuchow.

In the West, Chiuchow cuisine is amongst the least represented of China's many regional cuisines. For most Westerners who's relative shallow exposure to Chinese cuisines Chiuchow dishes can be difficult at best. Almost never a Chiuchow dish is sweeten with sugar. To the contrary some are very bland and many are down right salty. Chiuchow people is some of the most hardcore foodies amongst Chinese. Chiuchow men like to eat and drink with relatives and friends especially till late at night. Eating late at night is called 燒夜, meaning burning the night away. Better yet feasting in cool winter night is called 打冷, meaning beating the chill.
this is a prime example of authentic Chiuchow restaurant where folks go eat at night - beating the chill 打冷; the store sign says "潮州打冷"

next door is a restaurant that clients come at night for the clay pot rice - I gather both restaurants are related

A lot of Chiuchow men like to nip on small plates of food very similar to the watering holes in Japanese (e.g. Izakaya) and Southern Europe (e.g. Spanish tapas). A lot of Chiuchow dishes are made from bits and ends of animal and this includes the entrails, head, tail, and feet. Most older Chiuchow men can drink you so you found yourself under the table while they still going.

In my recent trip to Hong Kong I went with my relative to a Chiuchow restaurant for lunch. While many of the dishes we ordered were very good, the most memorable one for me was the pig stomach soup with black pepper corn  潮州胡椒猪肚湯. I didn't know it is a famous Chiuchow dish until that day. The most standout attribute about the soup was it has overboard amount of ground black pepper corn. It has so much that the soup is quite hot. Unlike heat from hot chili the heat from so much pepper corn is a different taste. While it has relatively humble ingredients the soup was very hearty, spicy with heat, and very creamy.

Most Asians eat entrails and Chinese are no exception. In many parts of China pork stomach is considered a delicacy, though not so much as it is expensive but the extra effort it take to prepare it well.

A few days ago I picked up a pork stomach while grocery shopping. The freshness of it simply caught my eyes and I immediately wanted to reproduce the pick stomach soup with black pepper corn  潮州胡椒猪肚湯 I had in Hong Kong.

I have made dishes with pig stomach occasionally. One problem I constantly encounter had been ending with a dish with a lot of pork fat. I had thought that the stomach tissue simply has a lot of fat. I finally figured it out this time. It turned out by trimming off the fats inside the stomach there is very little fat left in the tissue.
a whole stomach for around $2.50 weighting in about a pound - i would called this bargain ingredient for a depression (reads housing bubble and bank-induced financial malaise) meal

 it is very easy to trim off the fat

 i blenched it briefly so it would be very easy to cut into small pieces

 then cool it with ice water

cut into uniformly size pieces so they cook evenly

 the tip is the best part as it is thicker (meatier)

I started off with little idea how long it would take the stomach to soften. It turned out it took about 3 hours. As always when cooking tough meat it is best to cook under very low heat. I use this beautiful Korean clay pot.

 i started with this pork bone broth I had made a few days ago

 i am one that think there is no such thing as too much garlic, especially with bold dish like this

i also had very little notion of how much black pepper to use; i just knew i want over the top plenty; i ended up using twice the amount in this photo

2 leaves of bay leaves

i also added some fish maw bits for texture

fish maw cooks very fast so I added them just before the soup is done; I also add in thin slices of shitake mushroom for variety

it simmer for about 3 hours

sprinkled a bit of chopped cilantro; the soup is hearty, delicious, and spicy

this is another meal for dinner - i top it with chopped scallions instead of cilantro

The soup turned out a overwhelm success given it was just a recipe I improvised. If you are interested in finding more about Chiuchow cuisine this wikipedia page is a good start.

What I immediately notice my version lacks the cream white color of one I had in Hong Kong. I think the cream white color is partly attributable to the fresh pork bone the restaurant use. I also think they use a nut like almond or bean for the broth. If I were to make it again that would be what I would change. In addition I think using some Chinese pickled mustard green would really add some Chiuchow accent to the dish.