Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Everybody's Favourite Braised Pork Belly in Dark Soy

Always a hit with the kids and adults. Great with steamed white rice or congee.
The blacker it is, the better!

Here is a simple recipe for one of our favourite comfort foods:

Braised Pork Belly

Ingredients

600g pork belly, cut into 2cm width
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4cm cinnamon stick
3 cloves
Half star anise (about 3 segments)
1 scallion (spring onion)
2 tbsp thick dark soy sauce ("Cheong Chan Cooking Caramel")
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1-2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar / palm sugar / Gula Melaka syrup
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
4 hard boiled eggs

Method

Heat up 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil in a pot and fry garlic, cinnamon stick, cloves and star anise for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the pork, dark soy sauce and 2 tbsp sugar, and fry for 5 minutes or until meat is browned. Add scallion, light soy sauce and water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until meat is tender and gravy reduced slightly. Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Add hard boiled eggs and simmer for 10 minutes until egg is coated in the sauce. Don't overcook the eggs. Turn off heat and transfer to a serving dish. Serve with steamed jasmine rice or congee.