Slow Cooked Pork Belly With Fennels

Food channel is almost the default channel if there's nothing interesting on TV. It was Gordon Ramsay's Cookery Course the other day and there was this pork belly recipe on this episode. I like pork belly a lot! There are so many dishes in China that are made with pork belly, like pork belly stew with eggs, braised pork belly, crispy baked pork belly... so many and so tasty. It's a cheap cut of meat, but the balance of the fat and meat gives such wonderful aroma towards the dish. One bite and a mouthful of goodness!

I've cooked pork belly so many times, but most of the time I chop it in small chunks and make a stew with it. The one on Ramsay's show is a total new way for me. One whole piece of pork belly seared to crisp the skin first and then slow cook in dutch oven with vegetables and white wine. Sounds even simpler than how I used to do it. With a little baby around, this can not be any better!

I usually get pork belly in Chinese supermarkets here. Look for the piece that has even layers of fat and meat, with bone or without it doesn't matter. Too much fat, the dish will be just too oily and disgusting; too little fat then it won't be that juicy.

Step one, use a sharp knife to score the skin of the meat. Rub a generous handful of sea salt and pepper on the skin. In this way, when you pan sear the skin, it will get crispy. Add vegetable oil in a sauce pan and bring to high heat. Sear the meat with skin side down until it's golden and crispy.

  

Then, cut the vegetables in big pieces. I use one fennel, one large onion, carrots and celery stalks.  In a large dutch oven or other oven safe pot, stir fry the vegetables for a few minutes until the flavor comes out. Add fennel seeds, star anise, pepper and put the pork belly on top of the veggies. Add white wine and let it cook until the liquid reduces to half. Add chicken broth to just underneath the skin. If the liquid covers the skin then it won't be crispy.

Preheat the oven to 250F and let it cook for 2.5 hours, lid off. Simple and delicious!

For gravy, use the juice in the pot. Add one heap tablespoon of dijon mustard, two tablespoons of honey and a little bit soy sauce. Whisk in some corn starch dissolved in a little bit water and simmer until the juice reaches a gravy consistency.