members recipes

In China, roast pork belly is usually marinate with some five spice powder and the thick strips of roased belly are chopped expertly by the master chef into bite size which is how I\'d perferred because each bite contains the right amount of meat, fat and crispy heaven and with some restaurants here serve it with the crackling separately from the meat is just created extra effort to try and cut through the crackling with a blunt knife (well, most of the time!). Traditionally, roast pork belly is served with some grated ginger and spring onion dip, again the fiery ginger cuts through the fat and balanced with a perfect explosion in every bite. In this recipe, the used of plum delievers a sharp sourness while the star anise and cinnamon will give you warmth and comfort which is what pork belly is all about!

Ingredients
What you\'ll need:


1kg of Pork Belly ( I used a slab but you can used thick strips of belly too)
1tbsp of Fennel seeds
1tbsp of Coriander seeds
1 star anise
2 tbsps of light soy sauce

For the sauce:

3 ripe plums (stoned and quartered)
1 small cinammon stick
1 star anise
1 tsp of grated root ginger
2 tbsps of red wine vinegar
4 tbsps of soft brown sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 240C/fan 220C/gas 9, score in a cross cut pattern on the skin of the belly, this is crucial if you want to end up with the most amazing crackling.

Rub the soy sauce into skin and the meat

In a pestle and motar, lightly crush the fennel seeds, coriander seeds and star anise.

Rub the crushed herbs into the skin of the pork, reserve 1 tsp to be used in the sauce.

Place the pork on a rack inside a roasting tray, roast in the oven for 25 mins.

Turn the heat down to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3, pour 1 cup of water into the roasting tray while the meat remain on the rack, roast for a further 1 hour. Top up with water throughout.

While the pork is cooking, prepare the sauce:

In a small saucepan, heat some oil and slowly fry the grated ginger until it changes to a very light golden colour (around 1-2 mins)

Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, plums, red wine vinegar, 1Tsp of herb mix set aside earlier and brown sugar. Give it a good mix in the pan, cover and lower the heat. Cook for around 20 mins or until the sauce is slightly sticky and syrupy. Mash the plums with the back of a spoon if it is not completely broken up during cooking, this will release more juice and increase the volume for generous portions when serve.