Sticky Pork Belly With Green Papaya Salad Chilli Lime Dressing Recipes

ISAAN PAPAYA SALAD WITH FRIED PORK BELLY

Steps:

• For the som tom (papaya salad): Combine the chiles, garlic and palm sugar in a large mortar and bash with a pestle until it forms a coarse paste, 2 to 5 minutes. (You can also combine the ingredients in a medium bowl and use gloved hands to break, shred and mash the ingredients together.) Add the tomatoes, fermented fish sauce, fish sauce, tamarind juice and limes and mix well. Add the papaya, carrot and salted crab and mix gently.
• For the fried pork belly: Combine the fish sauce, sugar and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Add the pork and massage the ingredients into the meat. Refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes to marinate.
• Place the tempura flour in a large bowl. Coat the pork belly in the flour and place on a sheet pan fitted with a cooling rack. Pour oil to the depth of 1 to 2 inches into a large heavy skillet and place over medium to low heat. When hot, gently place the pork belly in the skillet and cook until golden brown and crispy, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Drain the pork briefly on a clean wire rack set over a sheet pan. Serve with the papaya salad.

STICKY BELLY PORK

Steps:

• Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2, then sit the pork belly in a deep roasting dish. Mix the remaining ingredients with 1 tsp salt, then rub all over the pork. Cover, roast for 3 hrs, then uncover, slice the pork into 16 short, fat chops. Spoon over the sauce from the dish, then roast, uncovered, for another hour, turning the strips halfway. Cool, cover, then chill for up to 24 hours.
• About 15 mins before you are ready to barbecue, pop the pork into a low oven to melt the sauce making sure the strips are nicely coated in it. Barbecue, skin-side down first, to crisp up, then cook for just a few mins, turning, until heated through and the sauce is sticky.

STICKY PORK BELLY WITH VIETNAMESE-STYLE SALAD & SMASHED PEANUTS

Steps:

• Remove the rind from the pork and put the meat in a large sealable food bag or casserole dish. In a bowl, mix the hoisin, honey, vinegar, soy, ketchup and ginger, then pour over the pork and massage well. Seal the bag or cover the dish and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hrs, or overnight.
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Transfer the pork and its marinade to a snug roasting tin, lined with foil. Pour over 50ml water, cover with foil and roast for 2 hrs, or until tender, basting halfway through. Take the pork out and increase oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Remove the foil and pour the sauce into a small pan. Bring the sauce to the boil and let it bubble until thick and syrupy. Brush some of the sauce all over the pork and pop back in the oven, uncovered, for 20 mins until sticky and caramelised in places. Transfer to a chopping board, cover lightly with foil and leave to rest for 20 mins.
• Meanwhile, prepare the salad. Toss all the ingredients, except the peanuts, together in a bowl. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients and set aside. Reheat the remaining sauce, adding a splash of water if it has become too thick. Toss the dressing through the salad and divide between 2 plates, then top with the smashed peanuts. Cut the pork into thick slices, arrange alongside the salad, then drizzle over the sauce. Serve with Coconut rice (see tip, below).

GREEN PAPAYA SALAD

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine the fish sauce and coconut sugar and cook over low heat, stirring, until the sugar is melted and the sauce begins to thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and let the fish sauce syrup cool.
• Mortar and Pestle Method: Before you start throwing things in the mortar, arrange your mise en place in this order: garlic, chiles, green beans, carrot, green papaya, fish sauce syrup, lime juice, peanuts, and tomatoes. Hold the pestle in your dominant hand and a spoon in the other. Rather than pounding straight down, you're going to push the pestle down the sides of the mortar. Throw in the garlic and pound until it becomes a rough, pulpy mash. Add the chiles-pound them heavily if you prefer it spicy, or gently if you want it less spicy. Add the green beans, carrots, and green papaya, bruising lightly with the pestle and mixing with the spoon for about 10 seconds between each addition. Add the lime juice and fish sauce syrup, pound, and mix for another 10 seconds. Add the peanuts and tomatoes and repeat. Everything in the mortar other than the chiles and garlic should be bruised but intact. Don't overpound. If you want to mix a handful of other ingredients you can stir them in at this point, adjusting the seasoning as needed.
• Bowl Method: Combine the fish sauce syrup, lime juice, garlic, and chiles in a blender or food processor and blend until the garlic and chiles are totally pulverized. This is your som tum dressing and it can be refrigerated until you're ready to make the salad. In a mixing bowl, combine the papaya, carrots, and dressing. Using your hands, stir, mix, and squeeze the shredded salad to infuse the dressing and mimic the bruising of the mortar and pestle. Lightly crush the peanuts and toss in, along with the tomatoes. Transfer the salad to a plate and serve with sticky rice.

GREEN PAPAYA SALAD

Steps:

• In a blender or mortar, blend or pound garlic, salt, peanuts, chilies, sugar and shrimp (if using) into a paste. Transfer to a large bowl and mix in lime juice and fish sauce. Use a spoon (or the mortar) to lightly crush tomatoes and beans (if using), then add to bowl and mix lightly.
• Peel and coarsely grate or shred papaya, discarding seeds and inner membrane. There should be 4 to 6 cups.
• Add papaya to bowl and lightly but thoroughly toss together. Taste for seasoning. Mound in a bowl (if desired, line bowl with lettuce leaves beforehand). Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.