by Raymond Blanc from SIMPLY RAYMOND Recipes From Home (Headline) Photography: Chris Terry
Pork belly is, for me, one of the great cuts of meat, and lends itself beautifully to being slow cooked.
Fortunately, in Britain we have the world’s finest rare pork breeds, such as Tamworth, Saddleback, Middle White and Berkshire. This is an extremely simple dish, to which you may wish to add your favourite spices. I have included recipes for my suggested accompaniments: steamed pointed cabbage with cumin, and parsnips, fried in the pan and then finished in the oven.
Slow-cooked Pork Belly

PREP 5 MINS / COOK 2½ HOURS
SERVES 4
Ingredients

1kg oven-ready pork belly, ribs removed
1 garlic clove
a nice, thick slice of fresh root ginger
6–8 black peppercorns
1 tablespoon muscovado sugar
300ml cold water (or chicken stock)
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C/130°C fan/gas 2.
TO PREPARE Remove the skin from the pork to leave a top of fat. (The skin can be sliced into four pieces, placed on a baking tray and cooked at the same time as the pork, so it becomes crackling.) Score the fat.
Finely slice the peeled garlic and grate the peeled ginger.
Mix the garlic, ginger and peppercorns with the muscovado sugar, and spread this mixture over the flesh side of the pork belly.
Place the pork belly, skin-side up, in a large casserole dish with a lid.
Pour in the cold water or chicken stock, cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2½ hours, or until perfectly tender. After about 2 hours, you can start to prepare the cabbage and parsnips.
To check that the pork is just right, push the blunt handle of a tablespoon through the belly; the meat should yield easily. Strain and reserve the juices. Keep the oven on – you’ll need it for the parsnips, preheated to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.
Return the pork belly to the casserole dish and place it under a medium grill for a few minutes, to caramelise the fat so that it is browned to your liking. Cover loosely with tinfoil while you cook the cabbage and parsnips.
Serve the slow-cooked pork belly from the casserole dish at the table, with the cabbage in a warmed large bowl or straight from the sauté pan, and the parsnips in a pan or bowl. Pour over the juices from the dish and add the pork crackling.

Steamed Pointed Cabbage and Cumin
PREP 5 MINS / COOK 5–7 MINS
Pointed cabbage is a beautiful vegetable, cooks in a few minutes and can accompany so many dishes. If you have not cooked with it, I urge you to do so. It’s a must. Instead of pointed cabbage, you could also try varieties such as Chinese Leaf or Hispi.
Ingredients
1 pointed cabbage
20g butter
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
200ml water
TO PREPARE Chop the cabbage into quarters lengthways. Then slice each quarter into three pieces lengthways.
Place the cabbage in a sauté pan, add the butter and cumin seeds and pour in the water. Cover with a lid and cook over a medium heat for 5–7 minutes, until tender. Drain off any excess liquor.

Pan-fried Parsnips
PREP 5 MINS / COOK 15 MINS
Ingredients
5 parsnips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
sea salt flakes and black pepper
TO PREPARE Peel and trim the parsnips, and slice each one into quarters lengthways.
Melt the butter over a medium heat in a large sauté pan (or frying pan), and lay the parsnips into the foaming butter. Lightly colour the parsnips all over, for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to the oven (preheated to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4) to finish cooking for 5–8 minutes.
Drinks tasted on air alongside the dish

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