Pork Belly with Thai Spices and Coconut Milk
My friend Wei Liang - who happens to be a PhD student, a singer, AND a cook (he's already engaged. Sorry girls) - gave me a packet of spices from Bangkok. He also gave a packet to another friend Tim - who happens be an awesome cook himself - and so I tried this recipe after seeking advice from both of them.
This was my first try baking meat with my oven. I think I overbaked it since the meat was a bit tough, but I was trying to make the skin crispier. I also didn't add salt on the skin before baking, which is what Gordon Ramsay recommends. That should work wonders for roasted pork belly (i.e. in the oven for at least 2 hours), but I'm not sure about this short recipe.
My friends Rachael and Kaishi commented that they could taste the fragrance of the coconut milk and really liked it! I think it could be much better though - need to work on the crispyness of that skin!
Here's the recipe with some modifications that I think should improve the outcome. Disclaimer - I haven't tried it with the salt before, so I cannot guarantee this will work!
Recipe
Ingredients:
Spices from Bangkok (I'll take a photo and upload it here for you to see)
500g pork belly
1 packet of coconut milk
Salt
Method:
1. Thaw pork belly.
2. Coat pork belly with coconut milk thoroughly. Then coat with spices as thoroughly.
3. Scour the skin and spread salt over.
4. Put pork belly in an appropriately-sized glass dish. Bake it at 200 deg Celsius for 20 min or until fully cooked.
5. Slice and serve. You could also slice it before coating it with the coconut milk and spices - it might be easier that way.
