Fragrant Garlic Pork Belly

Fragrant Garlic Pork Belly (28 Mar 2012)

"Indulge your kids with delicious food & they'll be happy all year round!"

I truly believe in my motto. Meal time is always a wonderful time for my children especially when Mummy makes an extra effort to cook something special. My boys would frequent the kitchen to see what's going on and even help out whenever they can. They seem to be at their best behaviour without even trying (before, during and after the meal!)

I am certainly not asking you to feed them like cattles! I take my children's diets very seriously, but I also take time to LISTEN to their personal views on food that they like or dislike. So by the "extra effort" I mentioned, I basically mean to listen to my child's individual food preference and cater to that while providing the nutrition he needs! You will see a wonderful bond growing between you and your child (Not unlike when you show interest in his favourite cartoon or make time to watch him play soccer at school).

Anyway, it's a Tuesday and I felt that my boys needed a little "pick me up". I suffer from Monday blues so why can't my kids, right?  So, I went to my freezer and took out a strip of pork belly to defrost. That's one similarity between them that I can work with - they both love pork! But how do I cater to their individual preference but not spend any extra time cooking?

Thus, the creation of "one pork belly kills 2 dishes"! I made two totally different flavours with the same seasoned pork belly. I've separated the pork marinade recipe which you could marinade the night before or 1 hour before frying.

Pork Belly Marinade

600gm pork belly, sliced thinly
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Shao Hsing wine
A dash of pepper
1 tbsp cornflour

Mix well and keep refrigerated and covered.




Fragrant Garlic Pork Belly

Ingredient:
300gm marinaded pork belly
1 1/2 tbsp garlic, chopped finely
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp chilli sauce (Maggi chili sauce or garlic chilli sauce is fine) 
1/2 tsp sugar (omit if you use Maggi chilli sauce. It's sweet enough on its own)
1 tbsp water

Method:

1. Take the marinaded pork belly out of the fridge at least 1/2 hour before frying.
2. Deep fry pork belly until it turned golden brown. Drain and put aside
3. Heat up the wok. Put 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Saute the chopped garlic until fragrant.
4. Add the rest of the seasoning and water. Bring to boil before returning the fried pork belly to the wok
5. Mix well until all pieces of pork is coated with sauce. 
6. Ready to serve!