A Singaporean Mum

This is a fuss-free version of a classic dish—juicy pork belly and umami-packed preserved mustard greens, all pressure-cooked directly in the pot. No steaming needed!

I’ve been putting off making this dish because while it looks simple, it’s actually pretty tedious. I once watched a video of my cousin-in-law’s mum make it and wow—the number of steps involved! From prepping the pork to long hours of steaming just to get that perfect melt-in-your-mouth bite.

So now that I finally have an Instant Pot, I thought—why not give it a go? Let’s see if this modern shortcut can cut the time by more than half and still deliver all that deep, savoury flavour we love. Spoiler: it does.

Ingredients (Serves 6)

600g pork belly, skin-on

1 packet dried mei cai (preserved mustard greens)

8-10 cloves garlic

2 tbsp oil

Sauce Mix:

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp rice wine (or huatiao wine)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp five-spice powder

1 cup water

Method

1. Prepare the Ingredients

• Rinse mei cai thoroughly 2–3 times to remove excess salt and sand. Soak the mei cai for 1 hour in water. Chop roughly and squeeze dry.

• Cut pork belly into thick slices (about 1cm).

2. Sauté in the Instant Pot

• Turn on Sauté mode. Add 1 tbsp oil.

• Sear pork belly slices until browned on both sides (about 2–3 minutes per side). Remove and set aside.

• Add garlic and mei cai, stir-fry for 2–3 minutes until fragrant.

3. Add Sauce & Cook

• Pour in the sauce mix: light soy, dark soy, oyster sauce, rice wine, sugar and five-spice. Stir gently to combine everything.

• Layer in browned pork, add water.

• Cancel sauté mode. Close lid, set to Pressure Cook (High) for 40 minutes.

• Natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release the rest.

4. Reduce Sauce

• If the sauce is too watery, turn on Sauté mode again and simmer for a few minutes until thickened to your liking.

5. Serve

Scoop pork and mei cai over hot rice. Spoon sauce over.

One-pot, full of flavour, and no flipping needed—just rich, melt-in-your-mouth comfort food, ready with minimal fuss.