Do the world's most indulgent cut of meat – the pork belly – justice by slow cooking it for hours in Asian spices. Doing so begets delicate and tenderised pork belly, underscoring its richness when served with a reduction of the flavoursome cooking sauces.
Yield: Serves 6
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 90 mins
Difficulty Level: 4/5
Ingredients
- 1 kg pork belly, skin on, boned
- ½ cup (125 ml) chinese cooking wine
- ¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce
- 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate
- 2 tbsps honey
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 4 cm piece fresh ginger (20g), chopped finely
- 3 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 tsps Chinese five spice
- 1 star anise
- 1 dried long red chilli
- 1 tsp Sichuan pepper
- 3 cups (750 ml) water
- 900 g baby bok choy, halved lengthways
Steps
01. Place pork in a large saucepan of boiling water; return to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 40 mins or until pork is cooked through. Drain.
02. Meanwhile, combine cooking wine, soy, tamarind, honey, oil, ginger, garlic, five spice, star anise, chilli, pepper and the water in a large bowl. Add pork; turn to coat pork in marinade. Cover; refrigerate 3 hrs or overnight.
03. Preheat oven to 220 C.
04. Place pork, skin-side up, on a wire rack in a large shallow baking dish; reserve marinade. Pour enough water into baking dish to come halfway up side of dish. Roast, uncovered, 30 mins or until browned.
05. Meanwhile, strain marinade into a small saucepan; bring to the boil.
06. Boil, uncovered, 20 mins or until sauce reduces to about 1 cup. Boil, steam or microwave bok choy until just tender; drain.
Photo: bauersyndication.com.au