Pork Belly

Recently a friend and I went to a new Thai restaurant at Springfield Lakes. We had 2 dishes and some coconut rice to share as well as a beer each. One of the meals we ordered was a Crispy Skinned Pork Belly and it was AMAZING!!! I had the leftovers for lunch at work the next day and I was still super satisfied by the dish as it was not something I had made or tried before.

Up for the challenge, I decided to recreate the dish in my own way and took to the internet to get some recipe inspiration. Whilst I did get some ideas and encouragement from there, I decided to come up with my own combination of ingredients as I knew what flavours I was after and away I went.

The pork does take a long time to cook. Well, it does if you want the skin to be crispy. You could slice that off, cook it on a separate rack in the oven and possibly speed up the process however, I wanted my pork pieces to have both the meat and the crackling, so I painstakingly sat in front of the oven and then moved the tray around a few times watching the process evolve (over hrs!!)

When the meat is cooked, you need to take it out of the oven, put it on the bench and rest if for about 10 minutes before cutting it. You might find that it is quite tricky to not hover over the tray inhaling the aromas as if your nose was blocked and the steam was the vicks vapor remedy.

I can’t believe how delicious the pork is, or that it took me so long to get to making this dish, the meat is tender but the skin is hard and because it sat in the marinade for long enough before cooking, the sweet flavours of the sugar and chilli are infused through every tasty bite.

It is very challenging to not eat a piece of the meat when you are cutting it, but I think a ‘taste test’ is always necessary for the home cook ;P.

Serves 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours 20 mins

Marinade Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons minced garlic
3 fresh red chillis
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon ginger powder
juice of one lime
4 cloves garlic, peeled
salt (to season)
pepper (to season)
zest of one lime

 

Marinade method

1. Add garlic to medium sized mixing bowl
2. Chop chillis and transfer to the bowl
3. Add brown sugar, vinegar’s, lime juice and soy sauce
4. Stir, leave to sit for 5 minutes
5. Take pork out of the fridge and remove from wrapping
6. Line a baking tray with alfoil and spray oil, add garlic gloves and pour marinade into pan
7. Use a sharp knife to score the skin in both diagonal directions, season well with salt and pepper
8. Rub olive oil into surface of skin, add the zest of one lime, cover with glad-wrap and refrigerate for one hour

Roasting the pork

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
2. Place baking tray into centre of oven ¼ of way from top rack and bake for 2 hrs
3. Turn the heat up to 220 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes to crisp up the skin
4. After 2 hrs 20 mins, turn off oven and take out, leave to rest for 10 minutes

Stir fry method

1. Add a splash of oi to a fry pan and pour the remaining liquid from the baking pan into the saucepan, add the broccoli, put the lid on and cook for 2 minutes
2. Add the red capsicum, stir, cover with lid for another 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and do the same
3. Cut the pork belly into smaller pieces skin side down on a board with a sharp knife
4. Add the meat to the saucepan, turn the heat down and simmer for about 5 minutes

Coconut rice

1. Cook 2 cups of jasmine rice, in a saucepan with 2 cups of water and a can of coconut milk
2. Turn off stove, when liquid has fully been absorbed into rice

 

The meal is ready to be cooked – after marinading in the refrigerator for an hour (or overnight)

Veggies are all prepped and ready to be stir fried (leafy Asian greens also work well if Broccoli is not an option).

The long cooking time will be worth it, pour a glass of wine whilst you wait 🙂

Make sure you drizzle some of the sauce from the pan into the bowls when you are ready to serve!

Ready to eat, yum, this combination is a delicious treat.

 

Enjoy!! xx