Sweet and Spicy Pork Belly

Posted On January 12, 2016 By Kathryn

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Ingredients

Serves 4 plus extra left over for pork belly omelettes.

2kg pork belly, skin scored

2 fresh chillies, chopped finely, seeds left in or out, depending on preference

4 cloves of garlic, crushed, plus 5 extra (skin on) for roasting with the pork belly

3-4cm piece of ginger, grated

2 spring onions

2 tbsp of honey

3 heaped tsp harissa

2 tbsp of soy sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper to season

3-4 sprigs of both rosemary and thyme

6-7 tomatoes

Method

  1. If you have a hand held blender, this is perfect for making the marinade. Simply pop all of the ingredients in and blitz until you have a paste. If using a pestle and mortar, simply follow the instructions in the video. Grind the chopped chillies, garlic, ginger, spring onion and lime juice until broken down into small pieces. Then add the rest of the ingredients and grind to a paste.
  2. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and lay the pork belly inside. Slice the tomatoes in half and lay them all around the pork belly. Add the lime left over from juicing, along with 5 whole cloves of garlic. Pour the marinade all over, messaging in well, and then sprinkle the herbs on top. Cover in tin foil and allow to marinate for 12-24 hours. One hour before cooking, remove from the fridge to bring up to room temperature.
  3. Preheat your oven to 230 degrees and cook the pork belly on  a high heat for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 150 degrees and cook for about four hours, until the meat is meltingly tender. Keep an eye on it and if it is drying out at any point simply add a splash of water. If you have time to spare, reduce the heat to 95-100 degrees and cook for about 7-8 hours. Or if you have an Aga, simply place in the bottom ago for for about 7 hours, or overnight.

Chargrilled Courgette and Broccoli Salad

2 heads of brocolli

2 courgettes, yellow if you can find them

Olive oil, salt and pepper.

Method

Cut the broccoli into florets and then cut in half again so that each piece has a flat side. Slice the courgette, about half a centimetre in thickness. Dress with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, and chargrill on a very hight heat for no more that 3-4 minutes. Serve with a final sprinkle of seasoning. It is truly that simple!

Coriander Yoghurt

2-3 tbsp of natural or greek yogurt

A small bunch of coriander, chopped finely.

Zest of half a lemon.

Salt and pepper to season.

Method

Mix all ingredients together and serve.