Cooking

Glazed Pork Belly

Every day I checkout the internet to see what’s new in the world of food , something exciting, local food, far away food, this is a little local and Asian. Go down to your local butcher and pick up a full pork belly if it’s wide and full of meat ask him to put it on the band saw to split it length-wise from the tip to end. Get it home as soon as possible.

Marinade over night using a Thai five spice dry rub, lime juice and sesame oil put into roasting dish and cover around the rim with tin foil sealing the flavours in. This will keep in the fridge till your ready to slow cook it for four hours at 250c.

After two hours glaze your ribs with honey and rich soy sauce, cover again to avoid burning. For the last half hour baste every five minutes leaving the foil off for the rest of the cooking period .To serve cut in two and arrange on serving plate.

Basmati rice with cooking juice’s

One cup rice. Two cups of chicken stock. Making your own chicken stock is so easy, simply place a carcass of chicken in a pot, salt, pepper, and some fresh herbs (rosemary, bayleaf and thyme) tied together for easy removal.

Cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer two hours, strain and it’s ready. Add rice to the stock with some soy sauce, lime juice for zest, bring to the boil, cover and leave to simmer for ten minutes or till the stock has dissipated.

Leave to cool and when cold break the rice with your hand till you have separated grains now add a little sesame oil , thinly sliced spring onion and any juice from the roasting pan not to much just enough to give the rice a good dark colour.

John O’ Hara is head chef at - Treacy’s Bar and Restuarant, Main Street, Ballincollig.