Pulled pork belly is a rich and luxurious meat dish that’s perfect for a dinner party or any time you’re feeling particularly fancy. It’s certainly an unusual preparation method, but steaming for an extended period of time results in beautifully tender meat that will melt in your mouth.
This recipe also contains very few processed ingredients or harmful sugars, making it a perfect dish for those trying to lighten up their diets. Pork is a very high-quality protein that also contains minerals and vitamins such as thiamin, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, niacin, phosphorus, and iron, so it’s great for a nutritious dinner.
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Pulled pork belly
Ingredients
- MARINADE
- 10ml (2 tsp) minced garlic
- 10ml (2 tsp) minced fresh ginger
- 15 ml (1 tbsp) raw honey
- 1ml (¼ tsp) prawn powder
- 2,5 ml (½ tsp) each ground cinnamon, ground fennel, black pepper, ground ginger and crushed star anise
- 1ml (¼ tsp) ground cloves
- 45 ml (3 tbsp) coconut oil
- juice of ½ lemon
- 600g pork belly, skinned and cut into 4 x 150g rashers
- 15ml (1 tbsp) unsalted butter
- 5ml (1 tsp) toasted sesame seeds
- 8 heads pak choi
- 4 large or 8 small spring onions
- SAUCE
- 250ml (1 cup) Stellar Organic Winery Heaven On Earth Muscat d’Alexandrie
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 3 peppercorns
- ½ star anise
- 250ml (1 cup) organic chicken stock
Instructions
Make the marinade first by combining the garlic, ginger, honey, prawn powder, all the dry spices, coconut oil and lemon juice in a bowl. Coat the pork belly rashers in this marinade and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Remove the pork from the fridge and bring it to room temperature.
Find a saucepan that matches the size of the bamboo steamer. Fill the saucepan halfway with water, add 15 ml (1 tbsp) of the marinade and bring to a simmer.
Remove as much marinade as possible from the pork rashers and place them in the steamer, which should now be simmering. You need to simmer the pork for a good 2½ hours, turning the pork every 30 minutes. Keep an eye on how much water is in the saucepan, and top up whenever needed.
To make the sauce, add the Muscat to a saucepan with the cinnamon, peppercorns and star anise, and bring to a gentle simmer. Reduce this until it is almost syrupy, then add the chicken stock and carry on reducing until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Just before you are about to serve, melt 5ml (1 tsp) of the butter with the sesame seeds, then add the pak choi and sauté until wilted.
Using a griddle pan, char the whole spring onions until soft and almost blackened, but not completely burnt.
Now using 2 forks, shred the steamed pork. In a frying pan, add the remaining 10ml (2 tsp) butter, add the shredded pork and gently fry until heated. Season and set aside.
To plate, place 2 pak choi in the centre of the plate and top with a decent ladleful of the shredded pork. Spoon over some of the sauce and garnish with the charred spring onions.
Notes
Wine suggestion: Serve with Live-a-Little Slightly Sweet and Shameless or Running Duck Chenin Blanc
