11 January 2011

SLOW ROAST PORK BELLY.

Soy, ginger, chilli and honey.

My favourite cut of pork to eat has always been the belly. With a great ratio of meat to fat, it is both succulent and full of flavour. If cooked slowly, it is simply a delight to eat. I love it as part of a traditional English roast, but tonight my Wife and I had it oriental style with noodles.

Slow roast pork belly

Ingredients:
500 grams pork belly
1 tablespoon 5 spice (see below)
2 teaspoons Schechuan peppercorns,
2 teaspoons Fennel seeds,
1/2 teaspoon cloves,
3cm stick cinnamon,
8 x star anise.

I toasted the spices on a low heat for several minutes until they began to give off their aroma. Be careful not to roast for too long as they can burn and become bitter.
I then ground the spices to a fine powder, adding sea salt. 
Store the 5 spice powder in an air tight container in a cupboard for up to one month.


Method:
1) Rub the belly of pork with the 5 spice and leave for one hour at room temperature.
2) Heat a frying pan and colour the pork on all sides before placing on a pre-heated oven at 140 centigrade.
3) Cook for about two hours until tender.
4) Leave to rest, reserving any juices for the noodles.
5) For the stir fry, I used leek, celery, broccoli, garlic, red chilli and fresh ginger.
6) Use the same frying pan that you used for the pork so as not to lose any flavour.
7) Add pre boiled noodles near the end of cooking with the soy sauce and honey.
8) Add the juices from the pork tray into the noodles.
9) Pile the noodles into the middle of two plates.
10)Thinly slice the pork and lay atop of the noodles.
11) Enjoy with a chilled Asian beer such as Tsingtao or Kirin.


ChefGary's tip:
I removed the rind for the crackling before cooking. I cooked it separately between two sheets of parchment paper and weighted it down. This is a fancy trick to get a great looking piece of crackling. 


ChefGary@Home
ChefGary.

No comments:

Post a Comment