Our kids just love this! It’s more of a meal than a salad and the kids can happily demolish a couple of servings each. The pork is slowly cooked over a period of hours in an Asian broth, which is reduced down afterwards to caramelise the pork. Son-in-law eggs are something else again, with a hot yolk on the inside and crispy deliciousness on the outside.
SON-IN-LAW EGGS WITH STICKY PORK AND NAM JIM DRESSING RECIPE
Prep time: 40 minutes plus marinating time
Cook time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Serves: 6–8
500g piece pork belly
1 whole bulb garlic
1 thumb-sized knob fresh ginger, grated
6 Tbsp soy sauce
6 Tbsp hoisin sauce
6 Tbsp black or malt vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
10 star anise
6 eggs
1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
200ml canola oil for frying
1 cucumber, sliced
4 spring onions, sliced
3 cups bean sprouts
2 green chillies, finely sliced
1 recipe Nam Jim Dressing (see below)
1 cup fresh coriander leaves
½ cup roasted peanuts, crushed
3 limes
- Place the pork belly on a double layer of tinfoil.
- Break the garlic bulb into cloves, smash each clove with the flat of a knife to loosen the skin, then remove and discard the skins. Place the peeled garlic in a bowl with the ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, vinegar, sugar and star anise and combine well. Pour over the pork and rub all over. Cover the pork with a sheet of baking paper and then another layer of tinfoil. Seal up as well as you can and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to marinate.
- Preheat your oven to 160C fan-bake. Place the pork parcel in a roasting dish and roast for 2 hours. Check the pork and remove the top layer of tinfoil and paper. Place back in the oven for 1 hour.
- Bring a medium pot of water to the boil and carefully drop in the eggs. Boil for 5 minutes, then immediately transfer the eggs to a bowl of iced water to halt the cooking. Carefully roll the eggs to break the shells before peeling.
- Remove the pork from the cooking juices and slice into thick slices. Heat a heavy-based frypan, add the grapeseed oil and fry the pork slices on both sides. Carefully pour in the leftover braising liquid and simmer until reduced and syrupy.
- Place the canola oil in a small pot and heat to 180C (use a probe thermometer to measure). Carefully drop in the eggs in two batches and fry until golden brown.
- Combine the cucumber, spring onions, bean sprouts and chillies in a bowl. Dress with half the Nam Jim Dressing and top with the pork strips, eggs, coriander and crushed peanuts. Serve with lime wedges and the remaining Nam Jim Dressing on the side.
NAM JIM DRESSING
Prep time: 5 minutes
Makes: ½ cup
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 coriander roots, cleaned
3 green chillies
150ml lime juice
3 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp brown sugar
- Using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic and coriander roots to a paste.
- Add the chillies then the lime juice and continue to pound.
- Add the fish sauce and brown sugar.
- Taste and adjust quantities if necessary — you’re looking for a balance of flavour, not too salty, sweet or sour.
Extracted from Good from Scratch by Michael Van de Elzen, photography by Babiche Martens (Allen & Unwin NZ, $49.99). Out now.
