Pork belly with caramelised chilli sauce and coconut rice
( SERVES 6 )

Photo by Photography and styling by Tamara West

Bite 15/10/2012

see more recipes by
Nadia Lim

Your
Rating:

Ratings: 5.0 / 5 FROM 2

Follow these instructions and I promise you perfectly cooked pork belly — crackling that makes a loud crunch and succulent meat with loads of flavour. Using free-range pork makes a big difference to the taste and quality, and drying the skin out overnight ensures the crispiest crackling. At the slightest chance of there being any of this left over, cut the pork into bite-sized pieces and serve with toothpicks and the caramelised chilli as a dipping sauce the next day.

Pork

(You can click on ingredients to see more related recipes)

1 kg	Pork belly
1 tbsp	Chinese five spice
1 tbsp	Oil
1 tsp	Sea salt flakes

Caramelised chilli sauce

1 tbsp	Oil
3	Garlic cloves, chopped
1	Shallot, large, finely chopped
5	Chilli, large red. Remove the seeds for a milder sauce.
5 cm	Ginger, piece, cut into small match sticks
1 cup	White wine
¼ cup	Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp	Light soy sauce
½ cup	Chicken stock, or water
¼ cup	Brown sugar

Coconut ginger rice

2 cups	Jasmine rice
2 cups	Water
2 cups	Coconut milk
2½ cm	Ginger, piece, sliced
1 pinch	Salt

Directions

Put the pork in a colander and pour boiling water over the skin (the skin will tighten up).
Dry the pork well and score the skin with a sharp knife at roughly 1cm intervals (scoring the skin will help the fat render out to create crispy crackling). Be careful that you do not cut too deep as to cut through the meat.
Turn the pork over and slash a few shallow cuts in a criss-cross pattern into the meat side (so the five spice can be rubbed in to getmore flavour into the meat).
Mix the five spice and oil together to form a paste. Rub the paste into the meat side only, getting well into the cuts. Do not get any paste on the skin (the skin should be kept as dry as possible).
Place the pork in a dish or tray and rub salt into the skin, pushing into the score marks.
Place in the fridge, uncovered, to allow the porkto dry overnight or at least a few hours.
Drain off any liquid that may have seeped out and pat the skin dry with a paper towel.
Preheat oven to 220 degC. Place the pork on a rack in a tray, skin-side-down, and roast for 15 minutes, then turn pork over so it is skin-side-up, and roast for 25 minutes, or until the skin crackles.
Turn the oven on to grill for a few minutes to give the crackling a final blast, watching carefully so it doesn’t burn.
Rest the meat in a warm place for 15 minutes while you prepare the sauce.
To make the sauce, heat oil in a frying pan and add garlic, shallot, chilli and ginger.
Fry garlic and shallots for 3-4 minutes, then add wine and allow to bubble rapidly before adding the remaining ingredients.
Stir together and simmer sauce for 5-10minutes to reduce down until it is slightly sticky.
Cut pork belly into 4-6 slices and divide between plates.
Serve with coconut rice and steamed broccolini or broccoli. Pour some sauce over pork and the rice.

Coconut ginger rice

Mix water, coconut milk and salt in pot and bring to the boil.
Wash jasmine rice twice before adding to boiling liquid. Give it a stir, lower heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, coveredwith a lid.
Take off the lid and fluff rice up with a fork. Discardginger slices.