BBQ Coca-cola pork belly - Asian Style!

There's nothing better than a beer and a BBQ - and a pork belly!

I know - this article has nothing to do with yeast - just with wholesome flavoursome tasty goodness.

Pork belly is one of those budget cuts of meat as it's rather fatty and doesn't really correspond much to 'standard' Aussie cooking. It was popular in traditional English and European cooking and it's still a major mainstay of Asian dishes as it's actually a really flexible ingredient and is utterly delicious if it's handled well.

I prepared this one for a BBQ at a mate's place, but regrettably didn't go owing to my wife coming down with regular flu / common cold and not wanting to infect everyone else there.

It's a twice-cooked dish - a guarantee of extra special tasty goodness. Once in the oven - once on the BBQ to pick up extra flavours.


Here's how you do it:
* A big piece of pork belly - say >2.5 and <3.5 kg - as long as it will fit your biggest baking dish. It's better if it has the skin on and the rib bones in. That way you get two yummy dishes from one slab of meat.
* A huge baking dish
* 2 - 3 litres of cola
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 2 star anise

- Preheat your oven to 180C fan forced
- Put the pork belly into the baking dish, cover it with the cola as deep as possible and slowly bring it to the boil on the stove top.
- Put the cinnamon stick and star anise into the liquid
- Cook for 2.5 hours or until it's nice and tender. The skin will toughen and may burn a little - it's not important as you will be discarding it.

In the meanwhile, make the marinade:
* 500 grams white sugar
* 200 ml Chinkiang Vinegar (brown vinegar from any Asian grocer - more if you want a sharper taste, up to 400 ml)
* 3 tablespoons crushed dried chilli (you may want to add up to eight or ten if you want more chilli flavour, or use four or five fresh strong chillies for more of a kick)
* 2 cinnamon sticks
* 150 gm Lee Kum Kee char siu sauce (any brand will be OK, but this one is very reliable)
* 80 gm Hoi Sin sauce
* 100 ml of a premium oyster sauce (cheap ones are too salty and not 'oystery' enough).

- Put the sugar into a heavy based saucepan and add enough water to make a thick paste
- Cook over a medium to high heat, stirring often, until it becomes a pale golden colour. If you add too much water, you will end up with sugar syrup and will need to boil it down until it thickens - and it won't go gold, so you will miss out on the caramel flavours.
- Remove from heat and let cool about five minutes.
- VERY carefully add the vinegar. If the sugar solution is too hot it may explode owing to the temperature difference. Be careful.
- Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and return to the heat to reduce until it thickens to a similar viscosity as the original sugar syrup / caramel.
- Remove from heat and let cool.

-- When the pork is done, remove it from the oven, discard the cooking liquid and let the pork cool down a bit.
- If you are going to BBQ it the same day, now is a good time to remove the skin and place the pork skin side down into the dish. It should pretty much come off in one piece. If you're preparing this a day or more in advance, leave the skin on and put the pork in the dish, skin side down.
- Pour the marinade over the pork. Cover with cling wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge for a few hours.
- The final cooking stage is about ten minutes either side on the BBQ, basting frequently with the marinade. You may want to BBQ longer or shorter depending on your preference.
- With a large knife, cut the ribs away from the slab of meat and serve.
- Slice the meat slab thinly, plate it, drizzle a little extra marinade on top and garnish with green chilli. Yummo!

It is quite possible to not BBQ it and serve as above. Warm out of the oven it's almost irresistible. If there are leftovers, you can refrigerate and consume much the same as cold cuts. Microwaved until warm and then served in slices with a dipping sauce of soy sauce and freshly cut chilli it's a fast and tasty side dish.

You can also make BBQ Pork Buns with leftovers. Keep some marinade and some meat and I will show you how in the next posting!


Cheers and Beers!!