modern CHINESE
TWICE-COOKED PORK BELLY
Pork belly in any form is one of those ingredients that finds its way into Chinese households all year round. It was one of my dad’s final wishes before he went up to the heavens, and my sister always seems to have a slab of pork belly fat or skin ready for crackling or a soup dumpling craving. In our family, we cook it numerous ways over Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. For this recipe, poaching the belly before cooling, slicing and frying it gives each bite a crisp edge. I’ve come up with a simple way of setting out your prepared ingredients to help you cook them in order. It’s called the ‘wok clock’. Starting at 12 o’clock, you set out your ingredients all the way around the plate, then add them to the wok one at a time. All the prep should be done in advance as everything cooks so quickly – the wok clock is a good way to organise prepped veg and speed up the cooking process. Dunk the shredded red chilli and spring onion in an ice bath for 5 minutes so they curl up, then drain on kitchen paper for an effortless upgraded garnish.
2 HOURS 10 MINUTES + COOLING + MARINATING SERVES 2›4 | EASY
pork belly 400g, skin on
onion ½, finely sliced
ginger thumb-sized piece, peeled and cut into matchsticks
garlic 3 cloves, finely sliced
red chilli 1 large, roughly chopped
carrot 1, finely sliced on the diagonal (optional)
celery 2 sticks with leaves attached, finely sliced on the diagonal (optional)
coriander leaves, shredded spring onions and shredded red chilli to garnish (see tip above)
vegetable oil 1 tbsp
POACHING LIQUID
star anise 2
cinnamon stick 1
cloves 2
white peppercorns 1 tsp
bay leaves 3
fresh chicken stock 2 litres
MARINADE
light soy sauce 1 tbsp
sesame oil 1 tsp
caster sugar ½ tsp
whole black peppercorns ground to make ½ tsp
SAUCE
1 tbsp2 tsp1 tbsp
