Sticky pork belly bites
This recipe combines two cooking methods to create the most divine flavour. Choose a piece of pork belly that has more meat than fat and pop in at an Asian supermarket for some Chinese BBQ sauce – we used char siu sauce. Serves 4 Preparation time: 35 minutes, plus cooling time Cooking time: 2 hours Oven temperature: 180°C • 800kg boneless pork belly, skin removed • 15ml Chinese five spice • about 15ml oil • 100ml sugar • 100ml boiling water • 45ml char siu sauce • chopped spring onions and chilli
1 Preheat the oven. Rub the meat well with the spices. Place in a roasting pan and cover tightly with foil. Roast for about 1½ hours. Switch off the oven and allow the meat to cool inside until you can work with it. Using a sharp knife, cut the meat into bite-size chunks.
2 Heat the oil in a pan (remember, the pork is also fatty) and fry the bites until crispy all over. Remove and add the sugar and water to the pan, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil. Boil until the sugar caramelises and turns the colour of honey.
3 Add the char siu sauce to the caramel, spoon the crispy pork bites into the pan (be careful, it may spatter), and stir-fry until the cubes are syrupy and glossy. Sprinkle with chopped spring onions and chilli and serve with sticky rice and overnight coleslaw (recipe below).