Braised Pomelo Peel

the Shunde dish that eats the part everyone throws away: white pith blanched and squeezed through many changes of water, then stewed with dried flounder and pork until soft and faintly gelatinous

Origin: Guangdong, China

From the journey of Pomelo.

Almost every cuisine on earth treats citrus pith as waste. Cantonese cooking, and specifically the kitchens of Shunde and Chaozhou, decided otherwise, and yau pei is the result: a dish made from the thick white layer beneath a pomelo's rind, which is bitter, spongy, and to all appearances inedible. The technique is entirely a matter of removing bitterness and then putting flavour back. Naringin, the compound responsible, is water-soluble, so it can be driven out by repeated blanching and squeezing, and the process is long, physical, and non-negotiable: the pith is boiled, cooled, and wrung out by hand, and then the whole thing is repeated four or five times until the water runs clear and a taste confirms that nothing bitter remains. What is left is a pale, porous, almost flavourless sponge. That is precisely what makes it worth cooking. Pomelo pith holds liquid the way no vegetable does, and braised in a strong stock it takes up everything around it whilst turning soft and faintly gelatinous, closer to a braised tendon than to a fruit. The classic partner is dried flounder, daai dei yu, toasted and ground, which supplies the deep marine savour that Cantonese cooking uses where other cuisines would use stock cubes. It is a dish of thrift raised to considerable refinement, and it appears on the menus of serious Shunde restaurants rather than only in home kitchens.

Ingredients

Peel

2 whole pomelo, the rind and pith only (use the flesh elsewhere)

Braise

1 piece dried flounder (about 15 g), or 2 tbsp dried shrimp
200 g pork belly, in thin slices
600 ml chicken stock, unsalted
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce, for colour
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
4 slices fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
2 whole spring onions, cut into lengths
1 tsp sugar

To finish

2 tsp cornflour slaked in 2 tbsp water

Method

Pare the coloured zest from the pomelo rind with a peeler or knife and discard it, leaving only the white pith. Cut the pith into pieces about 5 cm square.
Cover the pith with cold water, bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain, run under cold water until cool enough to handle, and squeeze each piece firmly between your palms to expel the water.
Repeat the boil, cool, and squeeze cycle four or five times, until a small piece tasted raw has no bitterness left at all.
Soak the squeezed pith in cold water for 30 minutes, then squeeze dry a final time. Meanwhile toast the dried flounder in a dry pan until fragrant and brittle, and grind it to a coarse powder.
Render the pork belly slices in a wok over a medium heat until lightly browned and some fat has run, then add the ginger, garlic, and spring onions and fry for a minute.
Add the Shaoxing wine, then the stock, oyster sauce, both soy sauces, sugar, and the ground flounder. Bring to a simmer and lay the pith pieces in a single layer.
Cover and simmer very gently for 45 minutes to an hour, turning the pieces every 15 minutes, until they are translucent, deeply coloured, and soft enough to cut with a spoon.
Lift out the pith, raise the heat, stir in the slaked cornflour, and let the sauce thicken to a glaze. Return the pith, coat, and serve.

Notes

Use the pomelo flesh for a salad, since this dish needs only the rind; two fruits' worth of pith serves four. Grapefruit pith can be used and is a genuine substitute here, being the same tissue, though it is thinner and yields much less. Vegetarian versions replace the pork and flounder with dried shiitake and their soaking liquid, which works well. The dish is better made a day ahead and reheated, the pith continuing to absorb the sauce overnight. Serve with plain rice as one dish amongst several.

The Gastrographer

Name: Braised Pomelo Peel
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 3 h 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 2 whole pomelo, the rind and pith only (use the flesh elsewhere); 1 piece dried flounder (about 15 g), or 2 tbsp dried shrimp; 200 g pork belly, in thin slices; 600 ml chicken stock, unsalted; 3 tbsp oyster sauce; 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tsp dark soy sauce, for colour; 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine; 4 slices fresh ginger; 3 cloves garlic, lightly crushed; 2 whole spring onions, cut into lengths; 1 tsp sugar; 2 tsp cornflour slaked in 2 tbsp water

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control