I love a bit of pork belly, but I don’t cook it at home that often. I’m not really sure why, but as soon as I taste that tasty, unctuous meat and get my teeth round that crackling, I vow to do it more often.
This recipe gives the belly the Eastern treatment using Szechuan pepper and Chinese five spice. Despite a lot of the fat rendering out during the cooking process, it’s definitely not the healthiest meat, but when it tastes as good as it does, who gives a toss.
Ingredients (serves 2)
For the pork
750g pork belly joint
1 tablespoon Szechuan pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper corns
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon sea salt
For the greens
200g baby pak choi
1/2 red chilli, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon Light soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
6-8 Spring onions
Sesame oil
Vegetable oil
Method
First up, score the skin of pork belly all over in a diamond formation with as sharp a knife as you’re got. You want to cut through the skin, but not down to the flesh, around 3 millimeters deep.
