oh pork belly – how i love thee, braised pork belly with star anise and coffee rub

Having a rep as a conscious, healthy eater – I wanted to show that I too can cook mean, fatty porky dishes at times \ / (that’s me with an angry face;))…  Actually – I think that we all deserve to “fall off the wagon” and indulge a bit now and then.  Otherwise – the healthy stuff gets to be a chore and there’s no “reward” for being good, you know?  Life’s too short to deprive yourself – just in moderation and balance of good and bad, i think.

Adopted and inspired by a recipe for Caramel-Lacquered Pork Belly with Quick-Pickled Honeydew in a Food & Wine magazine, I bought my first pork belly at Whole Foods since what seems like over a decade ago.  The trick is to season it close to 24 hours and to roast lo and slow~~  and my proud, awesome secret?  Fresh ground coffee & star anise rub – yup.  That was Me.  KICKS!  AZZ!  It was so tender and succulent that I almost cried… and so did my hubby ^ ^

Coffee & Star-Anise Rubbed Pork Belly (with Roasted Khulrabi)

Ingredients (serves 4):

Belly:

– 1 lb pork belly

– 2 tbsp sea salt, fresh ground black pepper to season

– 1 tbsp evap cane juice/sugar (tenderizes, seasons and browns the meat)

– 2 tbsp fresh ground coffee & 1 whole star anise (ground)

Sauce:

– 1/2 cup evap cane juice/sugar

– 1 tbsp tamarind paste (optional – most difficult to find even at Asian grocery stores.  Look for it in a compacted block form, sorta like whole bunch of dried plums smashed into a 6×6 cube)

– 1 tbsp asian fish sauce

– 1 tsp fresh grated ginger

– 1 tbsp fresh lime juice

– 1 small Thai chile (minced)

((You can prep it the night before (~8-9pm), tuck it away in the fridge, sprinkle coffee bean/star anise mixture the morning of, season it for another ~6 hrs and then braise it for dinner))

1) Mix salt, sugar and black pepper in a bowl.  Sprinkle over pork belly, wrap twice tightly in plastic wrap and store in fridge.

2) After ~12 hours of marinating, unwrap the belly, sprinkle and rub the coffee bean/star anise mixture, wrap it again and marinate it for another ~6 hrs.  Rinse belly and rub dry.

3) In a pre-heated 375 oven, set pork on a shallow baking/casserole dish with 1/4 cup of water at the bottom, fat side up.  Roast for 35-40 min.  Reduce temperature to 300 and roast for 1 hr.  Turn off oven and leave for 30-40 min to cool.

4)  Making caramel sauce:  Melt 1/4 cup evap cane juice in medium heat sauce pan until melts and starts caramelizing (stir occassionally).  Add another 1/4 cup evap cane juice to melt until it becomes a rich brown caramel.  Add 1/3 cup water to dilute and stir until caramel is smooth.  Cool for 1 minute, add fish sauce, tamarind paste, ginger, chile, and lime juice.  Turn off heat.

5) Cut the cooled pork belly into 2.5 x 2.5 squares and scrape the fat skin lightly (should fall right off).  Sear (no oil needed) on a cast iron pan until brown (about 3 min).

6) Drizzle caramel sauce and serve with your favorite sides.  Vegetable menu for the night – roasted kohlrabi tossed with olive oil, salt/pepper and drizzled lemon juice.  Roasted at the same time as the second 1/2 time of the pork belly.

made with 2 tbsp of love; love for food, love for life.

–ck