Anna's Family Kitchen was inspired by my love of food and desire to feed my family healthy, home cooked wholesome meals that are beautifully presented and appealing but don’t require hours of prep in the kitchen.
Twice Cooked Pork Belly
Just look at that crackling! A great way to cook pork belly, this cheap cut is simmered in seasoned stock (I added bay leaves, an onions and a few star anise) then refrigerated for up to two days. 45 minutes before you want to eat, pop the pork in a roasting tray and blast for 45 minutes. The juicy meat and crackling can be served as part of a roast but it’s great served in crusty bread with apple sauce or jelly.
Serves: 4-6
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 3 hours
Total: 3 hours 10 minutes
Difficulty: easy
INGREDIENTS
Pork Belly, boned, skin scored (ask your butcher to do this or use a Stanley knife)
1 onion cut into three disks
4 star anise
4 bay leaves
1 tsp peppercorns
500ml chicken stock
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp salt
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Put the onions disks in a pan or deep tray large enough to hold your pork belly.
Sit the pork belly on top. Throw in the star anise and bay into the tray and pour around the stock. Simmer for 2 hours covered – either with a lid or foil. You could put the pork in a lowish (140 degree) oven.
Leave the pork and it’s stock to cool. Ideally place something flat (I used a plate!) on top of the pork and top with a few cans so they serve as weights. This will make the pork an even thickness and seems to help the crackling render.
Put in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
When ready to cook, take the pork out of its stock (which will be like jelly) and place the pork on a roasting tray.
Smash up the fennel seeds together with the salt and push into the scored skin.
Blast in a hot oven (220 or 200 fan) for 45 minutes, or until the crackling has risen and looks crispy all over.
