Shredded pork and pork skin (Bi)

First, I want to apologize for my long hiatus. I don't know if I should blame the craziness of the holiday seasons or the lack of diligence, but I know I have been seriously lagging and necglecting my blog for a long while. 
Well now I'm back and still alive, just in case you were wondering, I want to introduce to you all one important component of the scrumptious Bbq pork rice dish aka "Com bi cha thit nuong".  As you may remember, I have introduced to you how to make the Bbq grilled pork (thit nuong) and the steamed egg meatloaf (Cha) in previous posts. So now it's time to bring to light the last, but not least, portion of the combo: shredded pork skin or "Bi". 
This sidekick dish is actually my favorite out of the three. I just love its versatility. Beside serving along side with grilled pork and the steamed egg meatloaf on rice, it also can be rolled up in rice papers to make delicious spring rolls called "Bi cuon" or stuffed in the baguette to make a lovely lunch sandwich. I also love to serve this with cold vermicille noodle "bun", mixed green mint salad and dressed in fish sauce to make a nice lunch (or dinner) entree. You can't go wrong no matter which way you like to serve it.

Ingredients:

- 1 bag of frozen shredded pork skin (you can find them in most Vietnamese supermarket)
- 1 lb of pork belly or pork shoulder.
- 1 bag of ground roasted rice called "thinh" (also can be found in Vietnamese supermarket)
- 5 cloves of garlic (minced), 2-3 shallots (peeled)
- 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt
- some vinegar and cooking wine

Method:

- Defrost the frozen shredded pork skin then clean and rinse well under cold running water. Soak the skin in some vinegar and cooking wine to reduce the pungent smell of the skin for about 15 minutes.
-Drain the pork skin and pat dry with papper towels. 

- In a medium pot, bring water to boil, add the pork belly or pork shoulder into the pot and season lightly with some salt and a piece of rock sugar along with the peeled shallots. Cook the meat until no longer pink (take about 45 minutes to 1 hour).
- Remove the pork from water, pat dry and sear it in a frying pan with a couple tbsp of oil until all sides are brow. 
- Remove from heat and let it cools before proceed to next step.
 

- In a small frying pan, add a couple teaspoons of cooking oil and add in the minced garlic. Stir and remove from heat once it turns light brown and drain from the oil to prevent further browning.
- Combine the pork skin and the shredded pork meat in a prepping bowl. 
- Season with salt, sugar, ground roasted rice and fried minced garlic. Adjust the seasoning to your liking and serve.
 

 - Serve along side with steamed egg meatloaf, grilled porks and some vegetables with a drizzle of chili garlic fish sauce for an irrisistible meal. Bon appetit!