Coconut Milk Braised Pork

Cook Time 2 hours and 30 minutes

Servings 4-6

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1.2kg piece of pork belly, skin scored (left to air dry in the fridge overnight, if possible)
Salt
200g palm sugar, shaved
150ml black vinegar
80ml fish sauce
80ml sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
4cm piece of ginger, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, bruised
2 long red chillies, roughly chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves
400ml chicken stock
500ml coconut milk

To serve: steamed rice and a simple Asian slaw with lime juice

Make sure to bring to pork to room temperature by removing it from the fridge 2 hours before cooking.

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Rub the oil all over the pork and season with salt. Place in a baking dish and roast for 15-20 minutes or until the skin is blistered, golden and crunchy.

In the meantime, heat a pot over a medium heat and add the sugar. Allow it to melt and then stir through the vinegar, followed by the fish sauce, sweet soy, ginger, garlic, chilli and kaffir lime leaves. Stir to combine and then deglaze with chicken stock. Once all the ingredients are incorporated add the coconut milk and bring to the boil for 5 minutes.

Remove pork from oven and turn the oven down to 160°C. Carefully pour the coconut sauce into the baking tray, being careful not to get any liquid on the skin. The coconut mixture should come about two thirds of the way up the pork. This will ensure it stays moist during the second cooking stage. Roast for a further 1 ½ - 2 hours. Keep an eye on the liquid - if it reduces too much just add a little extra stock or water.

Allow the pork to cool in the cooking liquid for 15-20 minutes, then remove and slice into thick slices. Drizzle a spoonful of the sauce onto a serving plate and serve the sliced pork belly on top.

Serve with steamed rice, Asian slaw and drizzle of lime juice.