South Taiwan Braised Pork

I love to eat pork especially braised pork. Saw Rontree Chan shared the following link in a cooking forum. And I just have to try it & the verdict ! Yummy is the word!

I have never tried this dish.  The meat & peanuts are just the right texture. The gravy is superb!

I had them with cooked steamed rice & perfect with pickled cucumber. 

The best part is , there is no additional cooking oil added. I guess it is slightly healthier ;)

The ingredients are easily available too. 

Ingredients at a glance

South Taiwan Braised Pork Belly 

Video of the shared recipe: 

http://youtu.be/9vDWjpoB3pw

Below is my interpretation of the recipe: 

Ingredients

Pork belly, sliced & cut into stripes

5 star anise , I used 8, cos I thought I heard 8. 

Raw ground Peanuts - as much as you like. 

Fried shallots

Fried garlic

5 spice powder

Salt, pepper & sugar to taste 

Light soya sauce 

Water 

Preparation steps: 

1. Fry the pork belly on the pan without oil until they turned white. Do not brown them. 

2. Then add the light soya sauce, add enough to get the nice browning color. Give a good stir. Add in all the remaining ingredients & stir well. 

3. Add water, just enough to cover the mixture, bring to boil & let it simmer for 50mins with the lid on. 

4. Served with cooked steamed rice or as suggested in the video cooked glutinous rice. 

Bon appétit ! 

Chin's notes: 

1.  I added some dark soya sauce to get the darker brown. 

2. I like them a little sweet & salty (adjust to your taste). I like to use rock sugar in my cooking. 

3. I used 8 star anise instead of 5 cos I heard wrong, I was worried about the dish may turned out too strong. But it turned out perfect!! 

4. Here is the recipe to the pickled cucumbers: 

http://fromchinshome.blogspot.fr/2015/04/pickled-cucumbers.html?m=1

5. Thank you Jacqueline Wee, for sharing the following website to give the measurement of ingredients used: 

http://blog.iset.com.tw/delicious/?p=11210

Here is the translation in English :-

400g Pork belly, sliced & cut into stripes 

5 pieces star anise 

Raw ground Peanuts 100g

Fried shallots 2 tbs 油蔥酥2大匙

Fried garlic 2 tbs、蒜酥2大匙

5 spice powder 1 tsp

Light soya sauce 3 tbs

Rock sugar 1 tbs

Pepper 1 tsp

Salt 1 tsp

Braised Pork Belly

We love tender soft braised pork. I used my Tiger Thermal Pot to braise this dish. Cooked them around noon time and they are ready by dinner. I only need to stay at the stove for about 30mins.  Easy to prepare & still piping hot around dinner time. Perfect! 

Braised Pork Belly Recipe : 

Ingredients 

600g pork belly cut into bite sized. With the skin on each piece. 

1 tbsp sesame oil 

4 cloves of garlic - cut half with skin on

2" ginger - cut half with skin on 

10 pieces of lump cane sugar / 1 tbsp sugar to taste

1 tbsp light soy sauce 

3 tbsp dark soy sauce 

2 tbsp ShaoXing cooking wine

1/2 tsp five spice powder

Pepper to taste 

Water

Preparation steps : 

1. Marinate the pork belly with pepper, five spice powder & shaoxing cooking wine & set aside. 

2. Heat up sesame oil in a pot. Sauté the garlic & ginger until they are fragrant. Add in the pork & stir until there is no redness on the meat. 

3. Add in all the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Add water, just enough to cover the meat. 

4. Simmer until the pork belly is soft & tender. Alternatively, in a thermal pot, cook the meat for 25 minutes on high then transfer to the pot capsule. Leave it in the capsule for at least 3 hours. 

5. Served with cooked steamed rice. 

Bon appetite ! 

Chin's notes: 

1. I like to use lump cane sugar. If you like  it sweeter just add a little more sugar. Otherwise reduced the sugar. 

2. Can add a little more soy sauce if you like more salty. I normally won't use salt if I use soy sauce.