Instructions
- Cut the pork belly into thick strips and place in a pot with half of the ginger and spring onion. Add enough cold water to cover everything and bring to a boil, wait a few minutes and then skim off any foam that’s floating on the water. Remove the spring onion, ginger and bay leaves and strain the pork, reserving the blanching liquid. Rinse the pork with running tap water to stop the cooking and rinse away any scum that may have stuck to it.
- In a dry Dutch oven, add the sugar and oil. Heat over low heat until the sugar is melted and begins to brown; look for an amber color. You only need just enough oil to help the sugar melt (approximately half of the amount of sugar). Try to avoid stirring the sugar while melting it. Instead, swirl the whole pot.
- Add the pork chunks by gently placing them into the caramel to minimise splashing or splattering. Depending on the size of your pot, you might need to add the pork in two batches. Turn the heat up to medium-low and brown the pork in the caramel, about 1 minute on each side. Be careful not to burn the sugar.
- Add the cooking wine and scrape the bottom to release any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add just enough of the reserved blanching liquid to cover the pork. Then add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, star anise, and the rest of the ginger, spring onions, and bay leaves. Turn to medium-high heat until everything comes to a boil.
- Turn to a low heat to simmer the pork for 1,5 hours. Cover the pot, leaving a small gap to allow the steam to escape. Stir a couple of times during the simmering. Add some blanching liquid if it gets dry, but this is usually not needed. Don’t add any liquid anymore near the end, so you end with a reduced, sticky glaze.
- If sauce isn’t fully reduced, remove the lid and bring the heat up to medium until the liquid is reduced to a glaze consistency. Keep an eye on the pot during the process and stir to prevent burning on the bottom.
Ingredients
- 750 g pork belly
- 2 big pieces of ginger, sliced lengthwise
- 6 green onions, sliced lengthwise
- 6 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp neutral oil with a high smoke point
- 3 tbsp rock/candy sugar
- 100ml Shaoxing cooking wine, or dry sherry
- 3 tbsp light/regular soy sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 3 whole star anise pods