Beer and maple-glazed pork belly

This takes the Canadian classic of maple bacon a step further, exalting pork belly to flavour-jammed, finger-licking territory. The citrus slaw expertly cuts through the richness to make it a surefire crowd-pleaser.

Credit: Andy and Ben Eat Australia, Food Network

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  1:30 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg boneless pork belly, skin on
• Sliced spring onions and fried shallots, to serve

Broth

• 125 ml (½ cup) light soy sauce
• 60 ml (¼ cup) dark soy sauce
• 2 spring onions, halved
• 1 red chili, halved
• 1 thumb piece size of ginger, roughly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and bruised
• 3 star anise
• peel of ½ orange
• 2 bunches coriander
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp salt

Beer and maple glaze

• 100 ml pale ale beer
• 200 ml maple syrup
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 thumb sized knob of ginger, peeled

Citrus slaw

• ¼ purple cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 red chili, thinly sliced
• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bunch coriander, leaves coarsely chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Salt, to taste

Instructions

For the broth, place 3 litres of water in a large saucepan. Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the pork into 2 cm cubes. Once the broth has simmered for 30 minutes, add the pork and simmer for another 45 minutes.

For the glaze, place all the ingredients except the ginger in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened, then remove from the heat. Finely grate the ginger into the glaze. Once the pork is cooked, drain and toss in the glaze until well coated with sticky goodness.

To make the salad, place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine well.

To serve, divide the pork and salad amongst bowls, scatter with spring onions and fried shallots.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.