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Caramelised pork belly, peanuts and buttered apple skewers
Serves 15 as a party offering or 4 as a main course Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 700g pork belly
- 2 garlic bulbs, cut in half
- 100g dark muscovado sugar
- 150g golden granulated sugar
- 50ml fish sauce
- 50g ginger, finely grated
- 3 star anise
- 3 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
For the apples
- 20g butter
- 3-4 small, tart, red-skinned apples, cut into wedges
- 2tsp golden granulated sugar
- 1tbsp cider vinegar
To serve
- 2-3tbsp roasted, salted peanuts
- 1tsp mint leaves, finely chopped
- lime wedges (optional)
- short bamboo skewers (knot or flag-ended)
Method
Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/
Gas 3. Score the rind of the pork. Place the garlic bulbs in a roasting tin and sit the pork on top.
Put the sugars into a saucepan with 100ml water and heat until they have dissolved. Add the fish sauce, ginger, star anise and chillies then pour over the pork.
Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 2½-3 hours, basting occasionally, until the pork is tender and the sauce has caramelised.
Remove from the oven, sit the pork on a clean tray and cover with a piece of aluminium foil that has been coated in oil.
Pass the roasting juices through a sieve over a bowl and discard the solids. Leave the liquid to cool and skim off any fat from the top.
Put another tray on top of the pork belly and add some heavy weights (eg tinned tomatoes). Leave the pork to press for several hours, or overnight if possible.
For the apples, melt the butter in a saucepan and cook the wedges of fruit over a medium heat until they begin to colour. Add the sugar and cider vinegar and keep on the heat until the apples are cooked but still firm.
Cut the pressed pork into 1cm x 2cm squares and reheat in the oven for about 5 minutes.
Pour the cooled liquid into a pan, heat until it is shimmering then toss through the meat.
Thread a piece of pork and an apple wedge on to each skewer. Scatter with chopped peanuts and mint leaves then serve on a platter with the lime wedges.
If serving as a main course, accompany with noodles or sticky rice with some green vegetables.
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