Braised Pork Belly

When I first started traveling to China years ago, I had dinner at the venerable Lou Wai Lou restaurant along the shore of West Lake in Hangzhou where they served a delicious, braised pork belly (dong po rou) cooked in a little clay pot. Here is a recipe that you can easily cook at home to enjoy the amazing flavor and texture of slow cooked pork belly served drizzled in a rich, sweet soy-based braising sauce.

Ingredients: Serves 4

1.5 lbs Whole Fresh Pork Belly

1 medium yellow onion

5 cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped

2 knobs of peeled ginger about ½” each

3  whole pieces of Star Anise

1/2 t Sichaun peppercorns

4 T Moromi Shoyu

2 T Chili Moromi Sauces

½ cup Chinese cooking wine

¼ cup Chinese black vinegar

3 T brown sugar

½ cup water

2 T vegetable oil

2T Sesame oil

1T Salt

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 350F

 Prepare the fresh pork belly by cutting into approximately 2.5” by 2.5” squares and lightly sprinkle with salt. (Pork belly is about 2 inches thick so you’re making four little pork belly cubes with a fat side on top.)

 Peel and slice the onion in half and cut into slices.

 Peel a 1” piece of fresh ginger and peel with a spoon. Cut into two ½ “ pieces.

 Peel and roughly chop the garlic

 Heat 2 T of vegetable oil along with one T of the sesame oil to shimmering in a Dutch oven on high heat on your stove top. Lightly brown the cubes of pork belly on all sides by turning in the oil with tongs. Approximately 2 minutes/side. Add the onion by separating the layers with your fingers as you sprinkle the slices between the pork belly cubes and cook for 2 minutes stirring to evenly cook. Add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute taking care not to burn the garlic.

 Now add all the remaining ingredients and stir together until well mixed. Arrange the pork belly cubes fat side up and return to a boil. The braising liquid should come up to about ½ way on the pork belly cubes. If not, add a little more water. Cover and place the pot into your pre-heated oven.

 Reduce the oven temperature to 250F.

 Set a timer and cook for 2. 5 hours.

 Gently remove the pork belly cubes and set aside on a warm plate. Strain the braising liquid and separate the oil layer (top layer). Discard the oil layer. Reduce the remaining braising liquid in a pan on your stove top by about 1/3 until it’s slightly thickened. (You can also omit reducing the braising liquid simply use it as is if you prefer).

 To serve – place the pork belly cubes fat side up into small bowls and drizzle with a generous portion of the reduced sauce. Garnish with a few sliced green onions and serve.

 After 2.5 hours of slow cooking over low heat, the pork belly should be soft and tender enough to cut with a fork or your chopstick. Enjoy!