Braised Pork Belly in Hoisin

[cjs]

Oh my, is this delicious and why have I waited years to play with pork bellies???? I braised it this a.m. and here I am at 10 a.m. with glasses of wine to see what goes best with it - Shiraz, hands down!!!



Lorraine, I even called Gil to run ideas how to do this by him, what a sweetie and I think that's the first time I've spoken to him on the phone - I expected more of an accent. P.S. OOOPs, Gil helped me with another pork belly recipe, not this one.

Here's the recipe if anyone would like to play too!


Slow Roasted Belly of Pork with Hoisin Sauce

2 kg (4 lbs.) Belly pork
50 g (1 2/3 oz.) Salt
50 g (1 2/3 oz.)Sugar
1/2 Jar Hoisin sauce

Pierce the skin of the pork with a sharp knife and rub salt into the skin.

Turn the belly pork over and rub the underside with Hoisin sauce and sugar.

Cover the meat with a clean cloth and place in a refrigerator overnight to marinate.

Heat your oven to approx 200C (400 F.) and cook pork for 15 minutes.

Reduce heat to 180C (350 F.**) (170C in a fan assisted oven) and cook for a further 2 hours.

Allow to stand before chopping pork up into pieces.

Serve with soy noodles or Jasmine rice.

Description:
"Especially created for the Hilton Hotel Restaurants."

NOTES : Pork belly is one of the nicest cuts of meat if cooked correctly, the fat melts away and you are left with delicious roast pork and plenty of crackling.
Choose a joint that has a better proportion of meat to fat.

**Next time I think I’ll do 325 F.
------

I’m going to have to go back to c2c and see who posted this and give them some credit. This is wonderful!!!

[bjcotton]

Sounds good Jean. I'd always thought pork bellies were like bacon, mostly fat. Guess not huh?

[Harborwitch]

I am sooooo on a mission to find pork belly this weekend! I want to make bacon, pancetta, and the braised pork belly - I'm drooling! That looks so good!

[Gourmet_Mom]

I am soooo wanting to do this, but have never seen it in the stores. Would it go by another name Jean?

[firechef]

The pork belly or the Hoisin sauce? Which are you looking for another name for Mom?

This sounds very good by the way.

[Gourmet_Mom]

Oh, sorry! The pork belly. I can get Hoisin sauce easy.

[cjs]

It probably will need to be special ordered, Daphne. But persevere, it's so worth it. I have three more pcs. and then the butcher is keeping the other one for me.

[Gourmet_Mom]

I'll check around Jean. Thanks. It just looks soooo good, like melt in your mouth good with that beautiful carmelized yummy looking salty sweet glaze around the outside. Is that what it tastes like? I'm drooling now. I think I may have to try to imitate it with something....maybe I'll pick up a Boston Butt today at the store. I'm still feeling icky, but this is looking mighty good!

[labradors]

Hoisin and pork is just one of those absolutely perfect combinations, whether it is with ribs, a roast, a loin, chops, or whatever. Just used that on a small roast, last week.

Another thing that is perfect with pork (but you may need to do some searching to find it in the States) is Salsa Lizano. It's originally from Costa Rica (where they put it on almost anything), but know that Knorr (Unilever) have acquired it, it may start to become more available outside of Central America. It's main ingredients (not counting the preserving or acidifying ones, of course) are water, sugar, salt, onions, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, spices, pepper, starch, mustard, turmeric. It's quite an odd mixture, made into a smooth sauce, but it is delicious, and I can see why the Costa Ricans love it so much. If you can find any, try it, but especially on pork. YUM!

[Lorraine]

That looks fabulous! I don't think you can go wrong with pork and hoisin!!

Some of our grocery stores have it every once in awhile (not the big box ones, just the larger chains). But, I usually have to buy the whole piece, cryovacked, about 16 - 18 lbs, Not that that's a bad thing. We cut down, use the FoodSaver, and freeze it in more manageable portions. I have one piece left in the freezer.

OT, I thought he had a very heavy accent when I first met him, but, now I don't. I guess I'm used to it. His sister , OTOH, you can cut hers with a knife.