Five spice pork belly with Asian broth and stir-fried vegetables
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- over 2 hours
- Serve
- Serves 4
- Dietary
- Egg-free
Andi Oliver's succulent pork belly takes a few hours but the results are sublime.
Ingredients
For the five spice pork belly
- cloves: 4 whole cloves
- star anise: ¼ star anise
- cardamom: 10 whole green cardamom pods
- cinnamon: 1 cinnamon stick
- coriander seeds: 1 tsp coriander seeds
- pork belly: 500g/1lb 2oz pork belly, skin removed and reserved
- onions: 2 onions, thickly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- garlic: 4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
- cider: 400ml/14fl oz cider
- butter: knob of butter
- balsamic vinegar: 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- black pepper: salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Asian broth
- chicken stock: 500ml/18fl oz chicken stock
- lemongrass: 1 lemongrass stalk, bruised and roughly chopped
- garlic: 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- ginger: 2cm/¾in fresh root ginger, chopped
- chilli: 1 red chilli, chopped
- soy sauce: 2 tbsp soy sauce
- mirin: 2 tbsp mirin
For the stir-fried vegetables
- vegetable oil: 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- bok choi: 2 bok choi, leaves separated
- Chinese cabbage: ½ Chinese cabbage, shredded
- fresh coriander: 2 tbsp fresh coriander
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grind all the whole spices to a powder. Rub the pork belly with all the ground spices, then lay in a roasting tin on top of the onions, bay leaves and garlic. Cover with foil and roast for 3 hours or until meltingly tender.
When the pork is cooked, pour off the cooking liquid from the tray, add a little cider and reduce until syrupy. Finish with the butter and balsamic vinegar.
Preheat the oven to 240C/220C Fan/Gas 9. Lay the pork skin on a flat tray, season and top with another tray. Roast in the oven until the pork skin is crispy and golden.
To make the Asian broth, place all the ingredients into a large saucepan and cook for 15–20 minutes, then set aside.
To make the vegetables, heat a wok over a high heat. Add the oil, and once hot add the vegetables and cook for 3–5 minutes or until wilted.
To serve, place the vegetables in the centre of the serving bowl and place a slice of the pork on top. Spoon the broth around the pork and vegetables. Garnish with fresh coriander and the chilli from the broth.
