Crispy pork belly with pears and anise
Ready in 3-3½ hours Serves 6-8
1.2-1.4kg pork belly, bone-in, skin scored
1 tsp salt and grinds of black pepper
2 bay leaves
2-3 sprigs thyme
3 whole star anise
3-4 pears, cored and cut into sixths
3 large onions, sliced
Juice of 1 juicy lemon
4 cups pear or apple cider
Preheat oven to 240C. Pat pork skin dry and season flesh side with pepper and half the salt. Place skin side up in a roasting dish (not Pyrex or ceramic), brush skin with lemon juice and sprinkle with remaining salt. Roast until skin is starting to blister and crackle, 50 minutes. Watch closely that it does not burn.
Lift out meat and discard fat from pan. Place bay leaves, thyme and anise in pan, arrange par-cooked meat on top with pears and onions around the meat. Mix lemon juice and cider and pour over vegetables (keep the crackling dry).
Reduce oven temperature to 160C and roast uncovered for a further 2-2½ hours, until meat is meltingly tender. Check the level of liquid during cooking. If it has evaporated and pan is starting to dry, add another cup of cider or water.
Remove any rib bones and turn the meat so the skin side faces the board for easy slicing. Serve in slices with pears and onions, which will have reduced to a chunky sauce.
NOTE: Blast the pork in a hot oven to begin with to make the skin crunchy, then slow-cook in an aromatic cider base for super-succulence.
Match this with ... Askerne Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2022 ($26.90)
Pronounced (vee-yon-yay), viognier is my number one wine with anything swine. And this example from the talented team at Askerne has me happier than a pig in the proverbial. Intensely aromatic, its seductive scents of orange zest, citrus oils, jasmine and musky spices are swoon-inducing, and its rich, toasty complexity (from being 100 per cent barrel-fermented in 20 per cent new oak barrels) makes it generously dry, peachy, hugely textural and triumphant with this pear and anise pork dish. Serve chilled. askerne.co.nz
— Yvonne Lorkin