Take a simple dinner shortcut for aromatic pork with Chinese five spice. Its blend of spices such as cinnamon and Sichuan peppercorns make a flavour-packed dish.
INGREDIENT :
1 tbsp Chinese five-spice powder
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
100ml Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry
2 tbsp malt vinegar
thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
4 garlic cloves, finely grated
½ red chilli, roughly chopped (optional)
1-1.2kg piece of boneless pork belly, lightly scored all over
1 tsp sunflower oil
200ml chicken stock
2 tsp cornflour
sliced spring onions, chillies and roughly chopped coriander, to serve (optional)
RECIPE DIRECTION :
Mix together the five-spice powder, soy, honey, rice wine, vinegar, ginger, garlic and chilli. If you have time, pour the mixture into a shallow dish and sit the pork in the dish skin-side up, so only the meaty side is in the marinade and the skin stays dry. Salt the skin lightly and chill overnight if you have time, or for up to 24 hrs. (If you don’t have time to marinate the pork, skip this and move straight to step two.)
Heat the oven to 150C/130C fan/ gas 2. Pour the marinade (the excess if you’ve chilled the pork overnight) into a roasting tin. Sit the pork on top, skin-side up – it should fit snugly in the tin. Roast for 2 hrs. Remove from the oven, then lift the pork onto a board. Pour the fat from the tin into a bowl, then pour the juices through a sieve into a small pan. Wipe down the tin. The pork can be prepared up to this stage two days ahead and kept chilled.
Turn the oven up to 230C/210C fan/gas 8. Put the pork back in the tin, skin-side up, and brush the skin with the oil. Roast for 30-35 mins, basting with the reserved fat once or twice, until the skin has blistered and crackled. If the skin hasn’t crackled after 35 mins, slide the pork under a hot grill, but watch carefully to ensure it doesn’t burn. Lift the pork onto a board and leave to rest for a few minutes.
While the pork is still in the oven, add the stock to the pan with the roasting juices and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes, adding more soy or vinegar to taste, if you like. Mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp water to create a smooth paste. Stir this into the sauce and simmer until thickened. Keep warm on the lowest heat. Carve the pork into thick slices and serve with veg and the gravy, or cut into squares and top with spring onions, chillies and coriander, with the gravy alongside for dunking.
