Tau Yew Bak - braised belly pork with star anise and soy sauce

Belly pork is one of my favourite cuts of meat. I love its' flavour, texture and the delicious fat especially when  slow cooked. This dish combines the saltiness of soy, the sweetness of honey and dark brown sugar wonderfully with star anise, all of which goes wonderfully well with the belly pork. This dish originates from the Hokkien settlers of Penang, Malaysia, and is a joy to eat, particularly on a cool, grey day in Autumn!

Ingredients

1 kg pork belly
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 tablespoons groundnut oil
5 cloves garlic - peeled and finely diced
6 shallots - finely diced
4 flowers of star anise
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar
4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sea salt
250 ml chicken stock

Take your piece of belly pork. Using  the sharpest possible knife or a Chinese cleaver, cut the belly pork into strips about 2 cm thick. It is not necessary to remove the skin, this will be delicious when cooked. Mix  a marinade of one tablespoon of the soy sauce with the honey and five-spice powder in a bowl, and  mix well into the  pork. Cover and set aside for 1 hour.

Dice the garlic and shallots very finely. Heat the oil to a high temperature in a thick-bottomed pan with a close-fitting lid, and stir-fry the garlic, shallots, star anise and brown sugar together until they begin to take on a golden colour - the fragrance will be tantalising!. Turn the heat down to medium, add the pork to the pan with its marinade, and brown the meat until coloured on all sides.

Pour over the chicken stock, and add the salt and the remaining the soy sauce. Bring the mixture to just below the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer, cover and continue to simmer for a minimum of two hours. Turn the meat occasionally. If the sauce reduces too quickly, add a little water.

The dish is complete when the belly pork is completely tender, almost to the point of breaking apart, the fat will be unctious, and the sauce thick, fragrant, sweet and salty.

In Penang the dish is ate with plain rice and a spicy sambal, however I enjoy it with rice and stir fried vegetables, perhaps some stir fried bok choy, ginger and oyster sauce.

As with all slow cooked dishes, this tastes even better left to cool, refrigerated, and then reheated the next day.

Enjoy!

Comments

[twitter.com/josordoni]

I can just taste this now... with sticky rice and some steamed pak choi... oh I have to go and make this...

[scandilicious]

Oh a kindred spirit - LOVE pork belly :) This recipe looks so fragrant and those punchy flavours I imagine work really well with the sumptuous belly

Another cracking recipe Paul

[Paul]

Thanks S ! - well worth trying!, next time I'll do my siew yoke recipe, delicious but not terribly healthy!

[The Grubworm]

Yes! I love pork belly cooked like this - it's so delicious, soothing and strong all at the same time - and perfect for the weather. It's one of the few times i gorge myself on pork fat because it soaks up all those sweet-salt flavours. Great recipe Paul(i reckon it would be pretty good with fatty duck too).

[paul]

Thanks TGW - it would be good with duck I agree. Also excellent with other cuts of pork such as pork knuckle, and interestingly in Bavaria there is a very similar dish, albeit without the asian spices - delicious!