Poached Pork Belly
I was so pleased with the sauce concoction that I made for the Hainan chicken + rice that I decided to have it with poached pork belly as well. It did not disappoint. It's essentially the same recipe, a mix of ginger-garlic sauce, soy-based sauce, and chili-based sauce. Serve with a bowl of rice and some stir-fried vegetables and you have a well-balanced, super simple meal.
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 1 hr
Ingredients
> pork belly (1/2 lb)
> scallion (1 stalk, finely chopped)
> garlic (2 cloves, minced)
> ginger (2 tsp, minced)
> oil (3 tbsp)
> soy sauce (1.5 tbsp)
> sriracha (0.5 tbsp)
Instructions
1. Simmer pork belly for ~1 hour, or until you achieve the desired level of tenderness.
2. Slice into roughly 1/4-inch thick pieces. Arrange and fan out on a plate.
3. To make the sauce: pour hot oil (almost smoking) over minced scallions, garlic, and ginger in a heat-safe bowl. Then mix in soy sauce and sriracha to taste.
4. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> I like to pre-slice my pork belly into roughly 1/4-lb strips, wrap them in plastic wrap, and freeze them individually. This makes preparing this dish super easy -- just pull two strips out of the freezer and let simmer!
> I've found that ~1h of simmering gets the best texture for this dish. It should be relatively tender, but not too tender -- it should hold its shape when being sliced. For reference, I usually simmer 红烧肉 for around 2.5 hours.
> The measurements for the sauce are very rough guestimates -- please adjust to your preference.