This recipe is for my dear young colleague and amazing new practitioner Giulia, who asked me for a good slow-cooked pork recipe recently. Here it is Giulia, I hope you love it!
This delicate slow-cooked pork belly gives up a glorious floral aroma thanks to an unusual combination of fragrant spices. It’s surprisingly light to eat, especially served with some steamed rice, veggies and pickles, with the delicious broth spooned over.
The spice combination in this recipe comes from a recipe by Omnivore’s Cookbook – ‘Mom’s best braised pork ribs’. You can check out the original recipe at omnivorescookbook.com/moms-best-braised-pork-spare-ribs
Is pork good for me?
Pork is a deeply nourishing meat that tonifies the water (yin) of the kidneys and supplements us at a constitutional level (supports the jing). It can be very helpful for someone who is deeply exhausted, chronically dehydrated or recovering from illness. Pork is rich and fatty, so it is a moderation food - eat it all the time and you’re likely to feel heavy and gummed-up. It’s best served in small portions with lots of side dishes such as rice, green veggies and pickles to lighten the meal and aid digestion. Pickled ginger or pickled daikon are great options. Always choose grass-fed pork as the fats it contains are way more useful to humans than those found in grain-fed meat.
Cook’s Tips
You can either slow braise this dish in the oven or steam it on the stovetop. Braising in the oven is easier, and definitely worthwhile, but if you have the equipment steaming is an exquisite choice. It brings out the subtlety and fragrance of the dish, and the pork itself becomes impossibly tender.
If you’re steaming, using a large purpose-built steamer is easiest but requires you to own (and find a home for) an extremely large piece of cooking equipment! Our giant steamer didn’t make the cut in our most recent downsize, so we make do with a makeshift steamer now. I’ve given instructions for making one at home with equipment you already have.
To increase the digestibility of pork and make it less ‘sticky’ you can add an extra step and salt the pork for 24 hours before cooking. This helps to sweeten the pork and starts to break down elements that cause blood stagnation. To do this, simply sprinkle the meat generously with salt - a couple of teaspoons should do this trick - and rest it in the fridge overnight. The excess salt will be washed off during blanching (see recipe).
Fragrant flower pork belly with steamed greens, bok choy and toasted sesame seeds
Fragrant Flower Pork Belly Recipe
You will need:
A crock pot with a lid that just fits the pork pieces in a single layer.
If steaming: a large steamer OR a saucepan that your crock pot will nestle snugly on top of. If the fit isn’t completely snug you may also need a tea towel or a length of foil to tuck in around the pot to stop steam escaping.
Ingredients:
700g pork belly, cut into bite-sized pieces
6 slices of ginger
6 spring onions, white parts only, cut into 1 inch lengths
½ of a nutmeg, kept in one piece (this is a good way to use up the ends of the nutmeg that have become too small to grate)
3 cloves
1 star anise
½ cup sake or shaoxin wine
¼ cup mirin
1 tbsp tamari
Salt to taste
Water, pork stock or chicken stock to cover (about 1.5L)
To serve:
Steamed rice
Steamed greens of your choice
Finely sliced spring onion greens
Toasted sesame seed
Pickled or fermented veggies
Method:
First blanch the pork: Bring a large pot of water to the boil and a add a tablespoon of salt. Boil the pork for 3 minutes, drain through a colander and wash the pork with cold running water.
Place all the ingredients in the crockpot, then add just enough water or stock to cover the pork. Put on the lid.
To steam in a large steamer: Place the lidded crockpot in the steamer basket over simmering water. Check the water level hourly to make sure it doesn’t boil dry. Top up with boiling water if needed.
To steam over a saucepan: Bring some water to boil in your appropriately sized saucepan (see ‘you will need’). Turn down to a simmer. Place the lidded crockpot on top of the saucepan. It should be suspended above the simmering water (not touching the water). If the fit isn’t completely snug, line the top of the saucepan will a wet tea towel of a length of foil to prevent too much steam from escaping. Check the water level hourly to make sure the pot doesn’t boil dry. Top up with boiling water when needed.
To braise in the oven:
Cook in the oven at 140°C. You may need to add a little boiling water halfway through the cooking time to keep the meat submerged.
For all methods: Cook for 2 – 5 hours, or until the pork is extremely tender. The pork should be jelly-like and offer no resistance to a knife.
Serve with steamed rice and steamed Asian green with plenty of the fragrant juices spooned over the top. Garnish with spring onion greens, toasted sesame seeds and pickled veggies.