Ingredients

• 1kg pork belly, whole or cut into 5 cm strips
• 10 spring onions cut into 5 cm lengths
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2.5 cm knob of ginger, thinly sliced
• 1 cup Chinese cooking wine
• 1 cup dark soy sauce
• 1 cup light soy sauce
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 4 tbsp peanut oil or sesame oil
• 4 star anise
• 2 cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 8 tbsp brown sugar

Method

1. Cut the pork belly into large 5 cm diced pieces. Put the pork belly into boiling water and cook for 3 minutes, then drain. This will remove any impurities and tenderise the meat.
2. Put half the oil combined with half the brown sugar into a pan, on medium/low heat. When the sugar is melted, add the meat. Caramelize the pork belly until golden brown, then add the Chinese wine and turn up the heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Pour remainder of oil into a thick-bottomed heavy pot. Add in the spring onions and garlic. When the oil is hot, add in ginger – stir-fry ginger, garlic and spring onions combined with the star anise, cloves, and cinnamon.
4. Now, pour the meat with wine and soy sauces into the pot. The liquid should reach 3/4 the height of the meat pile, if not add vegetable broth. Cover the pot & gently simmer.
5. Cook for a couple of hours until the meat is extremely soft, but the fat stripes are not melted. Then drain the meat and place into a covered bowl, keeping the liquid.
6. Add the remainder of the brown sugar into the liquid and simmer until it becomes a thick sauce. Finally, pour the meat back into the sauce, and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
7. Serve with rice or cooked noodles & Asian greens.