Cambodian Braised Pork with Chilies

Cambodian Braised Pork with Chilies

Recipe only

I love any dish which has pork belly in it. The great thing about it is it tastes amazing and the texture is spot on. The secret is to give it a really good browning first to render out some of the fat. So don't worry too much about the fat content of pork belly, its the fast food takeaways you need to stop. Try this simple dish and I bet you will be hooked on pork belly in the future.


INGREDIENTS

1 kg pork belly cut into 5 by 8 cm pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
olive oil
sea salt
5 dried long red chilies
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 piece orange rind



METHOD

1. Melt butter and a splash of oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Put pork into the pan in a single layer and season with sea salt. Cook the pork slowly, for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally, until the meat is golden brown and most of the fat has been rendered.

2. Meanwhile, put chilies in a bowl with 500 ml of boiling water and allow to soak for about 30 minutes. Remove the chilies, reserving the water, and chop roughly. Blend or process the chilies, garlic, cumin and chili water until smooth.

3. Add the chili sauce, bay leaves and orange rind to the pork and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover and braise the meat for about 1.5 hours, or until it is very tender and the sauce has thickened. Remove the bay leaves and orange rind and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Divide the pork among four bowls and serve with steamed jasmine rice.