For this you need the fattiest pork belly you can find. The butchers in the Loon Fung supermaket in Chinatown London will find you the stuff you need. Lidl's is also good. The europeans don't have the fat phobia that we do and Romanian pork fantastic. It has to be skin on. The skin provides the gelatinous texture of the sauce. The thicker the skin and the layer of subcutaneous fat the better.
A little goes a long way so be prepared to freeze some or eat it two days in a row. It's better on the second day.
Cut up pork belly, either slices or slab into bite size pieces. The tradition in china is that no knives are permitted on the table. A throwback to less civilised times when you might be tempted to stab your host because his chow mien was not up to scratch.
Put the pork in a heavy pan Do not fry it off. All the cooking is done in liquid. For each half a kilo of pork add:
1 Onion, roughly cut
4 cloves of Garlic, peeled and smashed
5 tbsp Light soy
5 tbsp wine, shaosing rice wine for preference but sherry, sake, red or white will do
10 tbsp Water (top up during cooking as necessary)
Five spice powder 1 dessert spoon
Sugar or Honey teaspoon
Your master sauce*
It's also ok to add some fresh or dried ginger and Szechuan pepper coarsely crushed.
* if you don't have a master sauce, you will by the time you've cooked this.
Close the pan and cook slowly for 3 hours. Keep an eye on the sauce level add water or wine or soy ore a mixture to keep it topped up. It is cooked when the skin has gone to jelly. If your simmer hob is too fierce put it, in a closed pan or casserole, in an oven at about 150C.
Serve with rice and chilli oil and some stir fried vegetables. This goes well with jasmine rice or glutinous rice. Skim some of the fat and put it on the rice to season it. Take a little of the sauce. It is pretty intense so don't overdo it, You'll wake up thirsty.
You should find there is too much sauce. Keep it in the freezer, this is your master sauce. Add it to the next batch you cook or use it for braising chicken or fish. Always add new soy, wine, five spice and water so you have sauce left over. My master sauce is more than 20 years old and gets better every time I use it.
If you want a real feast try this with hocks or trotters but give them another hour or two.
