Soy-Braised Pork Belly

I couldn't believe I found pork belly at the supermarket over the weekend. One whole slab of it, just waiting to cooked nice and slow, so it melts in your mouth. Lucky I found a recipe quickly enough, then took the plunge and adapted it for the slow cooker. I found some time while waiting for our Simplest Beef Stew dinner, to marinate the meat for next night's dinner. I also learned from someone at work to prep ingredients in the crock pot, and skip pre-heating the slow cooker, allowing it to heat up then cook through the day in its own time. Here I've included the original method, then what I have done for the slow cooker.

750 g (1 lb 8 oz) pork belly, cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) cubes
4 tablespoons peanut oil
5 cm (2 in) piece ginger, finely sliced
1/2 cup shao hsing wine
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 cup brown sugar
5 cups water
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar

To remove any impurities from meat, place pork belly in a large pan or stockpot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain, discarding water. Rinse pork thoroughly under cold running water and drain well.

Heat oil in a hot wok until surface seems to shimmer slightly. Add pork and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add all other ingredients except vinegar and simmer gently, covered, for 50 minutes or until pork is tender. Stir in vinegar and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6 as part of shared meal.


SLOW COOKER ADAPTATION

Prepare your meal the day before. I doubled all portions, and excluded the peanut oil and 5 cups of water, they are not required for the slow cooker.

Place the pork belly pieces in the crock pot of your slow cooker. Place all other ingredients, except peanut oil, water and vinegar, in a separate bowl and mix well. Pour mixture over pork, mix well, then cover crock pot with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, remove cling wrap from crockpot, and cook covered in your slow cooker on low for about 10 hours. Stir in vinegar just before serving.

Kem Trai Bo - Avocado Ice Cream

Of all the ice creams I've made, this is probably the most 'controversial' flavour. It remains divided among friends. Some like it, some have called it frozen guacamole. It almost has a savoury taste that most people are not used to in ice cream, expecting it to be sweet somehow.

I'd love to try a batch again, and it may have been a little chewy when I did it, as the avocados may not have been 'very ripe' enough.

125ml (4 fl oz / 1/2 cup) milk
375ml (13 fl oz / 1 1/2 cups) pouring (whipping) cream
1 1/2 very ripe avocados
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons condensed milk
1 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
100g (3 1/2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar

Put the milk and cream in a saucepan and bring it to the boil over medium heat. Meanwhile, remove the flesh from the avocados and blend it in a food processor with the lemon juice, condensed milk and salt. As soon as the cream comes to the boil, blend it from the avocado in the food processor. Whisk the egg yolks while continually whisking. Pour the mixture back into a clean saucepan and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirringly constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and pour it into a bowl and place over ice to cool.

Put the mixture in an ice cream machine and churn until frozen, or place in a freezer and whisk it every half hour until frozen. It will take 4-5 hours to freeze.