Slow-cooked Pork Belly with Warm Spices

A perfect dish for soothing spirits during the wintery months.

¼ tsp Cayenne Chilli powder, organic
2 Cinnamon quills, organic
1 tsp Whole Cloves, organic
3 Star Anise, organic
2kg belly of pork
3cm fresh ginger
6 garlic cloves
2 tbsps chopped coriander
100ml soy sauce
75ml maple syrup or 50g brown sugar
sea salt and pepper
1 tbsp cooking oil

Cover the pork belly in a large cooking pan with cold water. Bring to the boil and turn off immediately from the heat. Drain off the water and rinse the pan.

Fill the pan with one-third of water and place over a medium heat. Add the pork, spices, chilli. Ginger, garlic and chopped coriander. Add more water to cover the meat. Bring, to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 1 1.2 hrs. When the meat is very tender carefully lift out the pan. Turn up the heat iunder the pan add spy sauce, sugar or maple syrup to the pan, remove the piece of ginger. Let the liquid bubble and reduce by half. This will take about 20mins and you will have a dark, rich sauce.

Just before serving, slice the pork into equal portions. Season with a little salt and pepper. Heat a large frying pan with oil until smoking and add the pork, brown well on each side. Serve the pork with the reduced sauce, and steamed green vegetables, eat straightaway.
Adapted from a recipe by Skye Gyngell