Ingredients
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Pork Belly
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1 kg Salt
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100 g star anise
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20 g clove
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20 g Peppercorns
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30 g cardamom pods
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80 g chili flakes
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10 Sticks cinnamon
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10 g fennel seeds
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Pork Master Stock
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1 pork belly
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XO Sauce
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Pork Master Stock
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Corn Flour
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Avocado Puree
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2 avocados
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2 Tahitian lime
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1 garlic clove
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Olive Oil
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Cauliflower Puree
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500 g Cauliflower florets
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1 white onion
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100 ml soda water
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100 g Butter
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whipping cream
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Salt and pepper
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Black Rice and White Rice Cracker
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200 g jasmine rice
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800 g Water
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4 g Squid Ink
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Cauliflower Cous Cous
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500 g Cauliflower florets
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1 white onion
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5 cherry tomatoes
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1 Tahitian lime
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1 bunch parsley
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Directions
This is a delicious and extravagant pork belly recipe with XO sauce, avocado puree, cauliflower puree, cauliflower couscous, and black & white rice crackers provided by Chef Jiju Rajappen of Sheraton Samoa.
How to Prepare the Pork Belly:
- In an upright blender place spices and herbs and blend well.
- Place in a bowl and add salt. Trim off the skin of the Pork Belly and keep skin on the side.
- Nicely rub Pork Belly with your mix. Keep the rest in an airtight container for further use. Keep Pork belly marinating for about 8 hours, then wash off the remaining mix under cold water.
- Place Pork Belly in a deep tray with baking paper on top and underneath.
- Fill up with Pork Master Stock until fully covered and place plates on the baking paper to avoid Pork Belly starts floating while cooking.
- Add some Garlic and Chili to the stock. Tightly cover tray with cling film and 2 layers of tin foil.
- Cook in the oven for 2.30 hours at 170 degrees Celsius.
- Once cooked take out the Pork Belly and place it a new tray with baking paper on top and underneath.
- Press the Pork Belly by placing a deep container with water on top and keeping it in the fridge for 12 hours.
- Cut into portions and keep in the fridge until needed.
How to Make the XO Sauce:
- In a sauce pot bring Pork Master Stock to boil and simmer down to half.
- In a bowl mix corn flour with cold water, slowly keep on adding corn flour mix to your stock, always checking consistency. You want a slightly thick gluey sauce.
How to Make Avocado Puree:
- Peel avocado, remove the seed and place in an upright blender.
- Add garlic clove and juice of the limes.
- Blend and slowly add olive oil to get the desired consistency. This will always depend on how ripe your avocado is.
- Season with salt and pepper and pass through a fine strainer.
- Store in a squeeze bottle in the fridge until needed.
How to Make Cauliflower Puree:
- Heat up butter in a pan and cook cauliflower florets in it.
- Meanwhile thinly slice onion and add to the pan. Keep on cooking until onions are glassy, then add soda water and simmer down.
- Add whipping cream and bring to boil again.
- Transfer into an upright blender and mix until you get a smooth puree. Puree should be smooth and almost like a thick soup, check consistency and add cream if necessary.
- Keep on the side or in the fridge until needed.
How to Make Black and White Rice Crackers:
- Separate the rice in 2 pots, 100 g each.
- Now do the same with the water, 400 g for each pot. A
- dd 2 g squid ink to 1 pot and keep the other pot plane.
- Place both pots on the stove over high until boiling, then reduce heat and simmer until rice is fully cooked/overcooked.
- Transfer the rice without squid ink to an upright blender and mix until you get a thick mushy puree. This will not look appealing but its ok.
- Spread it on trays over baking paper and dry in the hotbox for 24 hours.
- Do the same with the squid inked rice and add the remaining 2 g of squid ink to the blender as well.
- After 24 hours, once almost all moisture has evaporated, take out of the hotbox and keep in an airtight container for another 24 hours to regain a little bit of moisture.
- Now heat up a pot with oil or deep fryer to 200 degrees Celsius.
- Deep fry the rice until it puffs up. This should not take more than 5 to 10 sec. Can’t store the cracker for more than a few hours after deep fried as they will turn soggy again after a while so only fry what’s needed.
How to Make Cauliflower Couscous:
- Place cauliflower florets in an upright blender raw and flash to get a cauliflower crumble.
- Finely chop onion, tomatoes and parsley.
- Combine all ingredients and season with salt, pepper and a dash of lime juice.
Plating:
- Squeeze 4 lines of avocado puree in a round plate in random ways.
- Set the pork belly in the middle and place 1 cornel of cauliflower couscous on top.
- Left to the pork belly place 1 spoon of cauliflower puree.
- Finish with 1 spoon of XO sauce, a black rice cracker on top of the cauliflower couscous and some white rice crackers crumbled around.
Photo credit: Chef on the move