Twice cooked pork belly

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time:
2 hours 20 minutes
Chilling time:
1 - 24 hours

Ingredients
400g pork belly, skin on  
½ onion, finely sliced  
25g fresh ginger peeled and cut into matchsticks  
3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced  
1 large red chilli, roughly chopped  
1 carrot, finely sliced 
80g mange tout, finely sliced 
80g tender stem broccoli 
3 spring onions, cut on the diagonal  
1 tbsp flavourless oil 

Ingredients for Poaching Liquid  
2 star anise 
1 cinnamon stick, broke in half 
2 cloves  
1 tsp whole white peppercorns 
3 bay leaves 
2 litres chicken stock 

Ingredients for Marinade 
1 tbsp light soy sauce 
½ tsp sesame oil 
½ tsp caster sugar 
½ tsp ground black pepper 

Ingredients for Sauce 
1 tbsp chilli bean sauce 
2 tsp rice vinegar 
1 tbsp hoisin sauce 1 
1 tbsp light soy sauce 
4 tbsp shaoxing rice wine 
2-3 tbsps sugar  
250ml poaching liquid 

Method
Take the Toast the whole spices for the poaching liquid in a dry pan over a medium heat until fragrant - this will take 30 seconds to 2 minutes.  You just need to gently swirl the pan to stop them burning why they roast.  Pour in the stock, season with tsp of salt and bring to the boil.  Once the stock is boiling very carefully put the pork belly into the liquid and reduce the heat to low/medium.  Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes or until the pork is very tender.  

Remove the pork from the stock and leave to one side for an hour to cool.  Then place the pork into the fridge covered for at least an hour or up to a day.  Take 250ml of the cooking liquid and keep for the sauce.   

When you are ready to cook slice the pork into 2cm pieces.  Mix the marinade ingredients together and rub into the pork. 

Mix the sauce ingredients together. 

Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat until smoking hot and then add the pork a slice at a time until golden brown, this should take a few minutes each side maximum, then put to one side.  Be very careful it will spit.   

Once you have finished cooking the pork add the vegetables and cook until crunchy and tender, this roughly takes 5 minutes.  When you are happy with the vegetables, add the pork back, pour over the sauce and bring to the boil and stir well. Test the sauce and adjust the seasoning with salt pepper and sugar and lime juice until you are happy. 

Serve with boiled or sticky rice.