One of the best meals I can remember eating in Australia was a slowly cooked pork belly.
I had a go replicating it this evening.
A pan half filled with water was put on to boil and the pork belly was lowered in.
As the water came to the boil I tipped in a pint of soy sauce which had been been mixed with a quarter pint of sake. That came to a simmer and the seasoning was then added. This consisted of a stick of coriander, three star anise, a finely sliced thumb of ginger,some chilli, a dash of balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of redcurrant jelly.After an hour I added twenty cloves of garlic.
Everything was then left to simmer for a few hours. Every so often I turned the pork over. When it felt soft and giving I took it out and put it on a warm plate whilst I boiled down the sauce into a thick black salty gravy. This was then poured over the pork. Spring onions, chilli and coriander was scattered and we ate it with rice and spinach.
It all came courtesy of Simon Hopkinson. We listened to Etta James.
Sheep's Head Food Company 