One of my favourite dishes from a recent trip to China. This is a recreation from a restaurant near our hotel that I could have eaten at every day. Feel free to try other roasted meats and accompaniments to taste
Roast the duck (or chicken) carcass until deeply golden brown.
Strain any rendered fat from the carcass.
Add the roasted carcass to a stock pot and cover with water, then bring to a simmer.
In a separate dry pan, toast the spices (bay leaf, star anise, cinnamon stick, Sichuan peppercorns) until fragrant. Add these toasted spices to the stock pot.
Cook the stock for 1 hour before straining it to remove solids.
Reduce the strained stock until it becomes thick and glossy, coating the back of a spoon.
Add the light and dark soy sauce, rock sugar, and MSG to the reduced sauce.
Taste and adjust sugar and salt as needed.
Reserve the sauce for later.
Pork Belly
Dice the pork belly into 1cm by 1cm chunks.
Bring 2 liters of salted water to a boil.
Add the pork belly chunks to the boiling water and boil for 2 minutes.
Strain the pork belly and rinse it under cold water.
Place the blanched pork belly in a cold pot with a small amount of oil.
Slowly raise the temperature to render the fat from the pork belly.
Once the fat is rendered, increase the temperature and fry until the pork belly turns golden brown and crispy.
Strain off any excess oil from the pot.
Add the light and dark soy sauce to the pork belly.
Fry for 30 seconds, then immediately cut off the heat.
Assembly
Cook the rice noodles according to their package directions.
Add a ladle of the prepared sauce to each serving bowl.
Add approximately 80g of the prepared pork belly to each bowl.
Add desired toppings such as pickled long beans, spring onions, pickled bamboo shoots, baked peanuts, and chilli oil to taste.