Five spice pork belly

A Cantonese recipe jotted down from Travel Channel's show Planet Food, episode on Southern China hosted by New Zealand chef Peter Gordon. It's easy and very tasty, I made it countless times. Including today. A word of warning, though. This hearty dish is somewhat fatty and not the easiest on the digestive system. If you've been dieting or eating little meat recently, be careful - don't eat too much right before bedtime or it might give you nightmares.

Quantities are approximate, adjust to your liking:

1 lb pork belly, without bones or skin (I left the skin on because I like it)
1-2 t Chinese five spice powder (make your own or buy a ready made product)
2-3 T oil for frying, peanut oil is best (smell-free)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 inches ginger, chopped
8 green chillies, cut up into pieces (I use Thai bird's eye chillies)
1/4 cup light soy sauce mixed with 1/4 cup honey
rice vinegar to taste
rice wine (if you don't have it just skip it or substitute with apple juice)
a handful of prunes (optional)
a handful of mushrooms (optional)
hot water

Chinese five spice powder (enough to cook at least four dinners):
Pound finely or grind finely and mix
1 t Szechuan peppercorns (these can be first roasted for 3 mins in dry skillet to release more aroma but no problem if you skip this step)
4 star anise
1/4 t cloves
1/2 T ground cinnamon
1/2 T fennel seeds

Cut pork belly into bite size pieces and sprinkle well with five spice powder. Do not use too much powder (definitely not more than 1-2 t) because it tends to be pungent, especially if the spices are very fresh.

Heat wok, then heat oil in wok. Fry the pork until no longer pink, remove from wok.

Add oil to wok if necessary, lower the heat, add garlic, ginger and chillies. Stir fry briefly to release aroma without burning. Add the pork, soy sauce with honey and vinegar, rice wine, prunes and mushrooms and hot water to more or less cover it all. Stir, bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and cook for 60-90 mins or until the pork is done.

I make mine with prunes but without mushrooms. I also make my own five spice powder, simply pounding the spices one by one in a mortar. I don't bother to sieve them afterwards but if you don't like biting on an occasional piece of anise shell, grind them in a coffee or pepper grinder and then sieve them.

ready dish