Braised pork

Braised Pork Belly

Share on FacebookPin on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on Google+Email this to someonePrint this page

I admit there are times that I talk non-stop to my boys about healthy food, balance diet and eating more vegetables.  Yada yada yada. But there are also times when I think we should be forgiven for the occasional guilty pleasures – like chocolate truffles and pork belly with crispy rind. And last Saturday was one of those days.

I bought a slab of pork belly and intended to cook lechon kawali but decided against it as I’ve cooked that about 2 weeks earlier paired with munggo. Isip-isip… ano nga ba maluto?  Suddenly I crave for a sinful slice of melt-in-your-mouth braised pork belly.

I braised the pork belly with my usual suspects (soy sauce, garlic, peppercorns and a dash of sugar) but instead of pineapple juice, I added Korean corn syrup and vinegar. Not bad. Oh… and if you’re intimidated by corn syrup, you may want to read this.


4.0 from 1 reviews
Braised Pork Belly
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • A large slab of pork belly
  • 5-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ to ½ cup vinegar
  • 10-12 pieces of peppercorns
  • ¼ cup of Korean corn syrup (mool yut)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • A dash of salt
Instructions
  1. Parboil pork belly for about 3-5 minutes to remove scum. Discard water and clean pot.
  2. Place the pork belly in the pot, skin side up. Add soy sauce, garlic, peppercorns, vinegar, corn syrup and sugar. Add water (approx. 1 cup) to the mixture, just enough to cover the belly.
  3. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer with the lid on for about 2 hours until fork tender and with enough sauce left. Sugar should be added sometime during the simmering. Remember to ladle the sauce over the skin during cooking time. You can also flip it to let skin side down after an hour, just be careful not to break the skin. If you are not sure you will be able to do this in the process, just leave it as it is but make sure to moist the skin with the sauce from time to time. Add water if necessary during simmering.
  4. Carefully transfer the cooked pork belly to a platter and slice. Pour the remaining sauce over the slices and serve with steamed rice and vegetables.
Notes
Also yum and prettier if you garnish with chopped spring onion.

 

 

Share on FacebookPin on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on Google+Email this to someonePrint this page
Iska
I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.

7 thoughts on “Braised Pork Belly

  1. i wish i can find pork belly here in my area. medyo malayo ang Asian store sa’min eh :( i’ve been looking because i’ve been wanting to cook sisig kaso lang wala talaga sa Wal-Mart or Weis or sa ibang grocery stores dito :( thanks for sharing this recipe though. will try this once i find pork belly meat :)

    visiting you back for WE. thanks for leaving a comment in my blog :)
    KM recently posted MAJA BLANCA AND AFRITADA

Leave a Reply to Thess Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Rate this recipe:  

CommentLuv badge