I'm Not Eating That Muck!

Thursday 27/1/2005

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Diary and Notes

"Pork belly." Doesn't it just make your mouth water? One of the tastiest of all the meats on offer and nobody eats it. Why not?

Sainsubry's (where I bought my pork belly) have realised that the very name itself turns people off and have started calling it streaky steak. This might confuse people who want to make a cassoulet from a recipe book they bought in France. The British don't eat pork belly anymore (except in the form of bacon of course, which they have no problem with) and they should hang their heads in shame.

I am willing to admit that if somebody roasted some slices of pork belly and gave me them for Sunday dinner, I might be a bit disappointed, especially as this would bring back memories of my childhood when my Mum used to do this. These days we've moved on and wont accept such poor fare, but that doesn't mean we should just ignore pork belly altogether. If cooked correctly it is moist, tasty and has a melt in the mouth texture that very few other meats can every attain.

So today I'm making something with pork belly. A simple and traditional Chinese style dish. This isn't my invention but the sort of thing that the Chinese people I shared a house with last year used to eat. I watched them make it many times and used to sneak a piece when they weren't looking. It's simple, cheap and very tasty. Once or twice they would add some trotters to the broth for extra flavour, but as I didn't have any I had to leave these out. Enjoy.


Cake Blog

Coconut Macaroons: From Sainsbury's. I liked these.


Menu

Chinese Style Stewed Pork Belly

Egg Fried Rice



Ingredients

Pork: Pork belly, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, soy sauce, sugar, five spice powder, water.

Rice: Rice, peanut oil, egg, peas, sesame oil, spring onions, soy sauce, white pepper.


Preparation

Cut the skin off the pork belly and cut the meat into large chunks (about 2cm cubed). Heat some peanut oil in a saucepan and fry the pork belly until it begins to brown. Add the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger and fry until the onion softens. Add lots of soy sauce, a little sugar, some chinese five spice powder and cover with water. Stew gently for an hour and a half making sure it doesn't boil dry. When cooked, remove the lid and allow the liquid to evaporate until you have a thick sauce.

Rice: Boil some rice and let it cool. Heat a little peanut oil in a wok and add the egg. Fry and stir to make scramble the egg. Add the cold rice and the peas and stir fry until both are hot. Stir in some soy sauce, pour on some sesame oil and add loads of chopped spring onions, season with white pepper.





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