1. Soak shiitake mushrooms for a few hours in warm water until tender. Remove stems if tough.

2. In a bowl, stir together the beaten egg, dark soy sauce, fivespice powder and cornflour.

3. Pat pork dry with kitchen paper, dice into 2cm pieces and add to bowl. Mix well to combine and leave to marinate for an hour.

4. Set aside 30ml oil for braising. Pour remaining oil for deep-frying into a wok and heat until smoking. Stir marinated pork, then add about a quarter of the pork pieces and fry until golden brown (1-2 minutes). Remove, drain well and transfer to a heavy saucepan. When the oil returns to smoking heat, add the next batch of pork, repeating until the process is done.

5. Pour the hot oil carefully into a heatproof container for reuse, then wipe the wok clean with paper towel and return to the cooktop. Heat the remaining 30ml oil over a high heat, then add the garlic and bean curd. Stir for about 10 seconds before adding ¼ cup of the chicken stock, and cook for 1 minute. Add remaining stock and bring to the boil.

6. Pour stock mixture over the pork in the saucepan and add the light soy sauce, sugar and shiitake mushrooms. Bring the saucepan to the boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 45-60 minutes, or until pork is tender. 7. Blanch the broccoli in salted boiling water for 1 minute, then drain, refresh in cold water and drain again.

8. Serve pork belly with broccoli and steamed rice.

If you like this recipe, try Neil Perry's Stir-fried scallops with zucchini