Pork belly with caramelised chilli sauce and coconut rice

Tamara West

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

1 kg	Pork belly, free-range (Main)
1 Tbsp	Chinese five spice
1 Tbsp	Oil
1 tsp	Sea salt flakes

Caramelised chilli sauce

1 Tbsp	Oil
3	Garlic cloves, chopped
1 large	Shallot, finely chopped
5 cm	Fresh ginger, cut into small matchsticks
5 large	Red chillies, remove the seeds for a milder sauce (Main)
1 cup	White wine
¼ cup	Hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp	Light soy sauce
½ cup	Water, or chicken stock
¼ cup	Brown sugar

Coconut ginger rice

2 cups	Water
2 cups	Jasmine rice
2 cups	Coconut milk (Main)
2 ½ cm	Fresh ginger, sliced
1 pinch	Salt

Directions

1. Put the pork in a colander and pour boiling water over the skin (the skin will tighten up).
2. 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.
3. 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 get more flavour into the meat).
4. 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).
5. 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 pork to 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.
6. Preheat oven to 220C. 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.
7. Turn the oven on to grill for a few minutes to give the crackling a final blast, watching carefully so it doesn't burn.
8. Rest the meat in a warm place for 15 minutes while you prepare the sauce.
9. To make the sauce, heat oil in a frying pan and add garlic, shallot, chilli and ginger. Fry for 3-4 minutes, then add wine and allow to bubble rapidly before adding the remaining ingredients. Stir together and simmer sauce for 5-10 minutes to reduce until it is slightly sticky.
10. 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

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

Tip

Check out Ray McVinnie's video on'How to cook the perfect white rice'.