Steam pork belly with preserved apricot

Steam pork belly with preserved apricot

Last year there was a huge crop of apricot, the trees were so loaded that I have to remove unripe fruits to reduce the weight on branches. I did not want to waste these good size green fruits and so used the Japanese Umeboshi method to salt and dry them. 

preserved unripe apricot

Unripe apricot is not sour like Ume and so this preserve is only mildly sour, also I used the minimum amount of salt needed to preserve them, so not as salty as commercial Umeboshi. Which is fine, it gives mild saltiness and mild sourness to the dish and thicken the sauce.

1. Cut dried salted fruits into small pieces, add white wine (or water) to dilute, mix with pork belly pieces, season with white pepper and 5 spices powder, a little brown sugar, rest for 15 minutes.

2. Cut egg plant into cubes, place in baking dish, top with pork pieces, steam until cooked, around 20 minutes, stir well before serving.