Braised Pork Belly

 
This recipe is an extension of the braised duck recipe that I have previously posted. I replaced the duck with pork belly. 



Before I place the pork belly into the braising stock, I rinsed them in hot water, patted them dry and pan fried them with a little oil (1/2 Tbsp) to sear the outside of the meat. This step will ensure that the piece of meat stay intact after 2 hours of braising. 

I paired the braised pork belly with some ramen eggs or ajitsuke tamago in Japanese (means “flavored eggs”). In Chinese, they are called 溏心蛋. Here is a video on how to make the raman eggs.  

After the eggs are cooked and peeled, I used the same cooled braising stock to soak and flavor the eggs. This goes very well with a steaming bowl of jasmine rice and a cup of Chinese tea. 

Braised pork belly buns is another way of having them. The Chinese version of hamburgers. ;)

Braised Pork Belly
Ingredients
500g of pork belly, rinsed with hot water and pat dry
1/2 Tbsp of vegetable oil  

Braising liquid
1 1/2 Tbsp castor sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp of vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil)
1/2 bottle of Tai Hwa Chinese braising sauce
1 cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
2 star anise
1 cardamon pod
50g galanggal, sliced
1 Tbsp dark soya sauce
300 ml of water

Steps to cook:
Wash the pork belly, rinsed in hot water and pat dry. Place pan on medium-high heat, add 1/2 Tbsp of vegetable oil and pan fry both sides of the pork belly until surface is a light golden brown. The meat need not be cooked through as it will go through the braising process next.

In a deep pot, heat up the oil at medium-high heat. Add sugar to the oil. Do not stir the mixture while it is heating up. The sugar will dissolve and turn golden brown. This step is to create the caramel. 

Turn off the heat and carefully add the half a bottle of braising sauce and add about 300ml of water. Turn on the heat to bring braising stock to a simmer. Stir the mixture to make sure nothing stick to the bottom of wok. Add the rest of the spices and dark soya sauce to the pot. 

When braising stock comes up to a simmer, add the seared pork belly into the pot. The braising stock should cover the pork belly pieces. If it does not, top it up with some more water. Cover the pot and let the mixture simmer over low heat until pork belly is tender, approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours. You may need to top up the braising stock with water during the process of braising.

Remove the braised pork belly, cut into 2cm pieces and serve with rice and ramen eggs. 

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