Braised pork belly

Hello everybody! It's been a long time since Rachel and I have updated this cooking website. You thought it was dead, huh? Well now that I have fewer distractions in life, what with wedding planning being done and all, I hope to update the site more often. 

...Starting with pork belly. Delicious, luscious pork belly. While this recipe does take a while to make, it it worth it in the end. It also makes lots of leftovers, leaving you with many no-cooking days ahead.

Braised pork belly:

2 to 2 1/2 pounds pork belly

1 cup water
6 tablespoons fish sauce
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cinnamon stick (or substitute 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder)
1/2 tablespoon whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1 inch piece of ginger, sliced
8 cloves garlic, peeled
2  large chili peppers
4 pieces star anise
3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1. Cut the pork belly into manageable chunks, about 3 inches is good. 

2. I think if you skip this step, the pork belly will still taste good, but if you have time, brown the meat before adding the liquid. Heat a tall pot with 2 tablespoons of oil on medium-high heat. Add the pieces of pork belly, allowing each side to brown for about 2 minutes.

Warning! Pork belly sizzles and sputters a LOT. Use a tall pot. If you have tongs, use them to flip the meat over to prevent splashing. Using an oven mitt to cover your arm isn't a bad idea either.

Fry the meat on each side till it's delicious and brown.

 3. While the pork belly is browning, prepare the sauce.  Mix the water, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar together. Add up to two tablespoons each of fish sauce/soy sauce if you want the braising liquid to be stronger. Peel your garlic, slice your ginger, cut the tops off the chilies and measure out your spices. If you don't have star anise, coriander, or ginger, that's okay, it'll still taste good in the end. I actually didn't have star anise this time so I omitted it.

4. Once you brown as much of the pork belly as you can, push the meat aside to make some space in the center of the pot. Drop in your spices and stir it into the oil, and let it cook for a minute. Then, add the braising liquid. Increase the heat until the liquid boils, then cover the pot and drop the heat to a simmer. I used my new(!!!) pressure cooker, which decreased my braising time. Using a pressure cooker, the meat will be soft in an hour. You could also drop this into a slow cooker if you have one of those and cook for about 2 hours. If you're using a regular pot, just let it simmer for about 2 hours. Stir the meat halfway through. The simmering fish sauce is going to make your house stink, by the way.

Smells so bad, tastes so good.

5. Take out the meat and refrigerate it for an hour. The pork belly is difficult to slice when hot, so cool the meat down first.

6. While the meat is chilling in the fridge, pour the braising liquid through a sieve. Toss the spices away--although I keep the garlic and the chilies. Pour the liquid back into the pot. Here you can add optional veggies, such as bamboo, bok choy, or bell pepper. Heat the liquid on medium-high until your veggies are cooked. In a small bowl stir 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water to make a slurry. Add the cornstarch slurry into the braising liquid and simmer for 1 minute to cook the cornstarch and thicken the sauce.

7. When the pork belly has cooled, cut it into slices or 1/2 inch chunks. At this point, you could add the meat back into the pot as is or...
 

8. Fry the sliced meat in an oiled pan for extra color and flavor. Beware the sputtering oil again.

9. Add the meat back into the sauce. Cook until the meat is heated through, about 5 minutes if adding the meat straight from the refrigerator. Turn off the heat, dump the sliced green onions and chopped cilantro in and give it a stir. Now it's finally ready to eat! Serve with rice or Asian egg noodles.

So good...