Posts Tagged ‘chinese’

ASIAN BACON

Posted: September 14, 2025 in bacon, Carnivore!, Food, frying, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
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Sometimes the happiest of cooking accidents happen with bacon. My original plan was to make Chinese-style honey ribs for dinner. But instead of pulling a nice rack of ribs out of the freezer, I accidentally took out a slab of pork belly. I only realized my mistake after I thawed it, so I decided to use it! The results were pretty damn tasty.

I like maple syrup instead of honey, but use what you like!

image

Marinade:
¾ cup light soy sauce
6 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
5 lbs. pork belly
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
4 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
image
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the marinade ingredients. Set them aside.
Cut the pork belly into pieces that are about 2 inches square. Place them in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring the pot to a boil. Boil it for 5 minutes. Drain the water.
Place the warm pork belly pieces on a sheet pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil. Coat them with the marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Bake the pork belly pieces on the sheet pan in the oven for 30 minutes.
While the pork belly is baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, maple syrup or honey, and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
When the pork belly pieces have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot, lowering the heat to a simmer. Simmer (covered) for about 15 minutes or until meat is tender.
Turn the heat back on high, uncover the pot and cook until the sauce has reduced to a glaze that coats the meat. Reduce the heat as the sauce thickens to avoid the sugars in the syrup or honey from burning. When the pieces are sticky and gooey, they are ready!
Devour them just like that!
If you have leftovers, let the pork belly cool, then slice the pieces it to your desired thickness and fry them like regular bacon. They’re great with eggs!
image

CANTONESE DUCK

Posted: January 3, 2025 in Carnivore!, Food, Recipes
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This recipe can be used on either bird. I based it on s basically my love of Peking duck.

Last week, I went home to Long Island, and I stopped by one of the great food stores of my life: Miloski’s Poultry Farm in Calverton, NY.

Miloski’s only takes cash, and I had $75 on me. I think I did pretty well!

I’ve been coming to Miloski’s since I was a kid. My Dad would buy his ducks there and Grandpa Miloski, the guy that started it all, would serve us. Over the years, grandpa made way for his son, and now the son is retired and the grandson has taken over the business. All along the way, one thing hasn’t changed: the excellent quality of their product.

My uncle, Antanas, passed away years ago, but when it came to being a true foodie, this guy put all others to shame. Besides being the only hunter in our family (my first taste of venison was at his table) he had several huge freezers in the basement of his Richmond Hill, Queens, home. He would drive to Miloski’s and buy dozens of ducks at a time, and bring them home to freeze. Very often, after I finished Lithuanian school on a Saturday, my uncle would invite our family over for dinner, and we’d all sit around a massive table where several ducks would be cooked and served, along with all the fixings. That’s just a taste of my Miloski memories.

I try to stop at Miloski’s every time I pass through. I bring cash, because Miloski’s doesn’t take credit cards! I have a long ride home, first on the Cross Sound Ferry from Orient Point to New London, CT…and then an hour-and-a-half on the highway from there. I always bring a cooler and I buy a bag of ice along the way.

Miloski’s sells all kinds of exotic meats, like wild boar and ostrich. But I go for their delicious chicken, kielbasa, pierogis, and, of course, duck!

1 whole duck, thawed, about 5 lbs.
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon peanut oil
4 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons granulated onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Remove any giblets from the bird and cook them up for your dog, like I used to do for my boy, Fellow. (Leave out anything with bones, of course.)

Rub the soy sauce first all over the duck. (It will absorb the flavors better if you do it before you rub the bird with the oil.) Then rub the peanut oil all over the duck.

Rubbed and ready to go in the oven!

Combine the Chinese five spice, garlic, onion, salt and pepper in a bowl. Season the entire bird, including inside the cavity, with this mixture.

Pre-heat the oven to 400°. Place the duck in a pan lined with aluminum foil (cleanup will be easier.)

I used a roasting pan this time, which elevated the bird off the fat that collected below.

Reduce the oven temperature to 250° once you put the duck in the oven, and then cook it low and slow. You want that fat to melt away, leaving delicious tender duck meat behind, with a crispy skin. (And by all means, save the precious duck fat for future recipes. It’ll have that Cantonese flavor from the drippings, but that’s alright!) You might need to pour off some duck fat while cooking, if your tray isn’t very deep.

At what temperature is the duck ready to eat? That depends on you. Unlike chicken, duck is often served still pink at many restaurants. I personally prefer to cook it to a nice medium. At that temperature, it’s still moist. But the breasts cook faster and dry out quicker than the thighs and legs, so I take the duck out of the oven at around 160°.

Meanwhile, combine the hoisin sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl. When the duck is about 15 minutes away from being done (skin is crisp, juices run clear), brush it with the hoisin/sesame oil mixture. Cook it another 15 minutes until the bird has a nice dark glaze.

Let the duck rest about 15 minutes before carving.

I served it with my own version of Chinese fried rice on the side.

Can you get salmonella from duck? In a word: depends! It used to be that salmonella was only found in the intestinal tracts of chickens. But because ducks are often raised in areas where chickens live, cross-contamination is very possible. Even if the birds live totally separate lives, cross-contamination can also happen in slaughterhouses. So…despite the fact that many say you can eat duck meat that’s pink, I prefer not to. Since there’s quite a bit of fat in an average duck, even if you cook the bird to medium-well, it will be delicious and juicy….and the skin will be fantastically crispy. Be safe and stay ion your comfort zone!

KOREAN/CHINESE CHICKEN: SWEET WITH A LITTLE HEAT

Posted: October 16, 2024 in barbecue, chicken, Food, Recipes
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The combination of sweet with a little heat is something I just can’t get away from. Whether I’m barbecuing, putting together a poke bowl, or preparing my favorite Asian recipe, I gotta have it.

I was looking back at a previous blog I had written about Korean barbecue, and I was really craving a lot of the flavors in my recipe…but I was comfy here at home on a bad weather day, and I wasn’t about to go out to the store to buy the one key ingredient I didn’t have: a spicy sauce called Gochujang. So, I looked in my fridge for a reasonable substitute, and there, on the shelf, was a brand new bottle of Chinese chili garlic sauce. It was exactly what I needed.

 

I grabbed chicken leg quarters at the supermarket last week, because the quarters have a drumstick and a thigh, my favorite parts of the chicken.

 

*Raw chicken hack*
I keep disposable gloves in my kitchen to use whenever I handle raw chicken. I’ve got a special trimming knife that I use…and it goes right in the dishwasher after I’m done. (I don’t normally put knives in the dishwasher, but this inexpensive blade goes in.) I also use an acrylic cutting board, because it, too, can go right in the dishwasher to be sanitized. (Doesn’t matter how much you scrub a wooden board, it will absorb odors and liquids and never get completely clean.) I have two beautiful wooden boards in my kitchen, but they’re more for show than practical use. And then the gloves: I wear them while trimming the chicken, then toss them when I’m done.

 

The amazing sauce that I use here will last through the preparation of this dish and then some. Once you’ve mixed up a batch, it might be good to separate it into 2 bowls. Use one bowl to brush it onto the raw chicken. The other bowl will be untouched by anything that touches the chicken, so you can use it cooked or uncooked. As soon as the brush you’re using touches the raw chicken and then sauce, you can no longer use it uncooked. (Salmonella!) No licking the bowl by accident!

The extra sauce will be awesome if you want to brush even more sauce on leftovers.

 

More sauce than you need, but trust me: you’ll keep slathering it on more and more!

 

3 lb. package of chicken parts (I used leg quarters)
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chili garlic sauce
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic

Combine everything but the chicken in a bowl and mix well, then divide them into two bowls…one to use with the raw chicken and one for later.

 

*Ginger root hack*
I love fresh ginger. But I never use it often enough. It gets moldy in my fridge and I have to toss it out. But I learned a trick from a local organic farmer who grows their own ginger– Liz, at at Wishing Stone Farm in Little Compton, RI: Put the ginger root in a plastic bag, and keep it in the freezer. When you need it for a recipe, take the frozen root out of the freezer and grate it–skin and all–according to your recipe. Then put the rest back in the freezer. An amazing trick that really works, and you’ll never peel ginger again!

 

Looks good, but it’s not cooked yet! Once it’s basted, fold the foil over the top of the chicken to make a packet.

 

Grab a baking pan, and tear a long sheet of aluminum foil, placing it over it. Place the chicken pieces on the foil bottom-side up. (I need to use 2 sheets of foil overlapping each other because my chicken pieces were larger.)

Brush the bottoms of the chicken pieces with the sauce, then flip them over and brush the tops. Be generous!

Wrap the foil around the chicken pieces to make a pouch, making sure the pieces are not sticking out.

Pre-heat the oven to the highest temperature it will go. When the oven is hot, place the pan with the chicken in the oven, close the door, and turn the oven down to 325.

Bake the chicken for one hour.

When the chicken is done, open the foil packet. It will look like this…

 

Carefully pour off the fat, then brush more of the sauce on the chicken, and place it under the broiler, watching it carefully so that the sugars in the sauce don’t burn. Broil it until it’s caramelized. (Another option is to light a charcoal grill and cook it on the grill rather than putting it under the broiler. It’s just a matter of how much time and effort you want to spend, and what the weather’s like.)

 

I used a new sheet of foil and a new pan under the broiler.

 

Discard any of the sauce that touched the raw chicken. Use the “clean” bowl of sauce on the cooked chicken, if you want to add more.

Leftovers are awesome. Simply take the chicken out of the fridge, brush with more sauce, and place it in a 300-degree oven for about 10–15 minutes. It will take on an even darker color.

 

Leftovers the next day: I brushed more sauce on it before re-heating.

 

 

AN UPDATE ON AN OLD CHINESE RESTAURANT CLASSIC

Posted: May 24, 2024 in barbecue, beef, Carnivore!, Food, frying, Recipes
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When I was a kid, no visit to a Chinese restaurant was complete without an order of those sweet, greasy and radioactive red spare ribs. They came in that foil-lined bag that barely kept them warm until my dad got us home to devour them along with the other classics: fried dumplings, and won ton soup with fried won tons on the side. I still see those ribs on menus even today, and despite my cravings, I just don’t eat fire-engine-red-dyed food anymore.

Imagine my excitement when I saw a recipe for those classic spare ribs in a food magazine. I figured I’d just make them without the food coloring. It totally worked.

I don’t think I’ve ever made a recipe exactly as written, and this was no exception. For one thing, it called for dry sherry. I didn’t have it so, I used dry marsala wine. I didn’t even have the pork ribs, so I substituted a beautiful slab of grass-fed beef flap. It was awesome. But using pork ribs and dry sherry in the same quantities you see here will totally work.

1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons dry marsala wine
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or through a press
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
2 lbs. beef flap (skirt steak or hanger steak works, too)

 

To make the marinade, combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, marsala, garlic, sugar and Chinese five spice in a bowl. Mix well.

Trim the excess fat and silver skin off the beef flap, and if it’s thick, slice it lengthwise to make a thinner piece of meat about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick.

Place the meat in the marinade, making sure it gets well coated on all sides. Marinate the meat at room temperature for about 30 minutes. If you have a thicker cut of meat, you can marinate it longer.

Drain and discard the marinade.

Heat a cast iron pan and add a little lard or oil. Place the beef flap pieces in the pan, searing well on one side before flipping over to the other. If the meat is thin, you can cook it to a medium-rare right there on the stove top. You might need to finish the beef in a 350-degree oven if you’re using a thicker cut.

 

To make the Chinese ribs with this marinade: simply place the ribs and the marinade in a Ziploc bag at room temperature for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees, and place the ribs on a baking sheet with a wire rack on top. Save the marinade…and baste the ribs with it every 30 minutes, turning the ribs over as you do so. Cook until the ribs are done, about 2 hours.

 

 

ASIAN BACON

Posted: May 19, 2024 in bacon, Carnivore!, Food, frying, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
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0

Sometimes the happiest of cooking accidents happen with bacon. My original plan was to make Chinese-style honey ribs for dinner. But instead of pulling a nice rack of ribs out of the freezer, I accidentally took out a slab of pork belly. I only realized my mistake after I thawed it, so I decided to use it! The results were pretty damn tasty.

I like maple syrup instead of honey, but use what you like!

image

Marinade:
¾ cup light soy sauce
6 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
5 lbs. pork belly
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
4 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
image
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the marinade ingredients. Set them aside.
Cut the pork belly into pieces that are about 2 inches square. Place them in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring the pot to a boil. Boil it for 5 minutes. Drain the water.
Place the warm pork belly pieces on a sheet pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil. Coat them with the marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Bake the pork belly pieces on the sheet pan in the oven for 30 minutes.
While the pork belly is baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, maple syrup or honey, and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
When the pork belly pieces have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot, lowering the heat to a simmer. Simmer (covered) for about 15 minutes or until meat is tender.
Turn the heat back on high, uncover the pot and cook until the sauce has reduced to a glaze that coats the meat. Reduce the heat as the sauce thickens to avoid the sugars in the syrup or honey from burning. When the pieces are sticky and gooey, they are ready!
Devour them just like that!
If you have leftovers, let the pork belly cool, then slice the pieces it to your desired thickness and fry them like regular bacon. They’re great with eggs!
image

CHINESE-STYLE HONEY RIBS

Posted: March 22, 2024 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

 

I love these ribs. They’re one of the the first recipes I ever tried, and still one of my favorites. I’ll be making them again this weekend!
 
I like making these because you don’t need a grill or a smoker. They’re gooey, sweet and absolutely delicious!
 
 
 image
 
¾ cup soy sauce
 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
5 lbs. pork ribs
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth
 
Mix the soy sauce and the hoisin in a bowl, and set it aside. These are the marinade ingredients.
 
If the ribs are large, cut them into individual pieces. If they’re smaller, cluster 2 or 3 ribs together. Place them in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring it to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain the water.
 
Place the warm ribs on a baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil or with a rack and brush them with the marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
 
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the ribs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.
 
While the ribs are baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot that will hold all the ribs: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
 
When the ribs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer on low (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until the rib meat is tender.
 
Turn the heat on high, uncover the pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Be sure to reduce the heat as the sauce thickens or the sugars in the honey will burn! When the ribs are sticky and gooey, they’re ready.
 
Substituting grapefruit for the lemon works really well. And I like to switch the honey for maple syrup! 
 

 

CANTONESE DUCK

Posted: October 15, 2023 in Carnivore!, Food, Recipes
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0

This is basically my Cantonese chicken recipe, which I based on my love of Peking duck. But, for whatever reason, I never tried this recipe on duck before. Last year, I went home to Long Island, and I stopped by one of the great food stores of my life: Miloski’s Poultry Farm in Calverton, NY.

I’ve been coming to Miloski’s since I was a kid. My Dad would buy his ducks there and Grandpa Miloski, the guy that started it all, would serve us. Over the years, grandpa made way for his son, and now the son is retired and the grandson has taken over the business. All along the way, one thing hasn’t changed: the excellent quality of their product.

My uncle, Antanas, passed away years ago, but when it came to being a true foodie, this guy put all others to shame. Besides being the only hunter in our family (my first taste of venison was at his table) he had several huge freezers in the basement of his Richmond Hill, Queens, home. He would drive to Miloski’s and buy dozens of ducks at a time, and bring them home to freeze. Very often, after I finished Lithuanian school on a Saturday, my uncle would invite our family over for dinner, and we’d all sit around a massive table where several ducks would be cooked and served, along with all the fixings. That’s just a taste of my Miloski memories.

I try to stop at Miloski’s every time I pass through. I bring cash, because Miloski’s doesn’t take credit cards! I have a long ride home, first on the Cross Sound Ferry from Orient Point to New London, CT…and then an hour-and-a-half on the highway from there. I always bring a cooler and I buy a bag of ice along the way.

Miloski’s sells all kinds of exotic meats, like wild boar and ostrich. But I go for their delicious kielbasa, pierogis, and now: duck!

1 whole duck, thawed, about 5 lbs.
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Remove all the giblets from the bird and cook them up for your dog, like I do for my buddy, Fellow. (Leave out anything with bones, of course.)

Rub the soy sauce first all over the duck. (It will absorb the flavors better if you do it before you rub the bird with the oil.) Then rub the peanut oil all over the duck.

Rubbed and ready to go in the oven!

Combine the Chinese five spice, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Season the entire bird, including inside the cavity, with this mixture.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the duck in a pan lined with aluminum foil (cleanup will be easier.)

Reduce the oven temperature to 250 once you put the duck in the oven, and then cook it low and slow for up to 4 hours…or more. You want that fat to melt away, leaving delicious tender duck meat behind, with a crispy skin.

You might even need to pour off some duck fat after cooking for a couple of hours. Depending on the duck, sometimes the bird releases a lot of fat!

Meanwhile, combine the hoisin sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl. When the duck is about 15 minutes away from being done (skin is crisp, juices run clear), brush it with the hoisin/sesame oil mixture. Cook it another 15 minutes until the bird has a nice dark glaze.

Let the duck rest about 15 minutes before carving.

Perfectly delicious!

Can you get salmonella from duck? In a word: depends! It used to be that salmonella was only found in the intestinal tracts of chickens. But because ducks are often raised in areas where chickens live, cross-contamination is very possible. Even if the birds live totally separate lives, cross-contamination can also happen in slaughterhouses. So…despite the fact that many say you can eat duck meat that’s pink, I prefer not to. I’ll tell you this: there’s quite a bit of fat in an average duck, so even if you cook the bird to medium-well, it will be delicious and juicy….and the skin will be fantastically crispy. Be safe!

CANTONESE ROASTED CHICKEN

Posted: February 20, 2023 in Carnivore!, chicken, Food, Recipes
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0

I’m back home after a long trip away, and there are foods that I absolutely crave. This is one of my go-to comfort recipes.

I really love the deep flavor of soy sauce and the sweetness of hoisin on poultry. Peking duck is the best example of this, but since I live in Rhode Island, I don’t get a chance to jump in the car and drive to Chinatown in Boston or New York at the drop of a hat. I had to come up with a plan B…and a good plan B!

I found it while looking through an old Chinese cookbook I had bought many years ago. Written by legendary NY Times food critic Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee, “The Chinese Cookbook” has become my bible for all of my Asian dishes.

I use chicken instead of duck. It’s cheaper, easier to find, and I can easily buy a whole pasture-raised chicken from local farms here in Rhode Island. But it is just as delicious.

As long as you use gluten-free soy sauce and hoisin sauce (La Choy and Kikkoman make them and they’re found in just about any supermarket), this recipe is gluten-free.

 

 

1 whole chicken, about 6 lbs., or 2 smaller chickens (pictured)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

 

Remove all the giblets from the chicken and discard. Rub the soy sauce first all over the chicken. (The chicken will absorb the flavors better if you do it before you rub the bird with the oil.) Then rub the peanut oil all over the chicken.

Combine the Chinese five spice, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Season the entire chicken, including inside the cavity, with this mixture.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the chicken in a pan lined with aluminum foil (cleanup will be easier) and bake.

Meanwhile, combine the hoisin sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl. When the chicken is about 15 minutes away from being done, brush it with the hoisin/sesame oil mixture. Cook it another 15 minutes until the chicken has a nice dark glaze. Don’t let it burn!

Let it rest about 15 minutes before carving.

 

CHINESE-STYLE HONEY RIBS

Posted: December 9, 2022 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes
Tags: , , , , , ,
1

 

I love these ribs. They’re one of the the first recipes I ever tried, and still one of my favorites. I’ll be making them again this weekend!
 
I like making these because you don’t need a grill or a smoker. They’re gooey, sweet and absolutely delicious!
 
 
 image
 
¾ cup soy sauce
 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
5 lbs. pork ribs
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth
 
Mix the soy sauce and the hoisin in a bowl, and set it aside. These are the marinade ingredients.
 
If the ribs are large, cut them into individual pieces. If smaller, cluster 2 or 3 ribs together. Place them in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring it to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
 
Place the ribs on a baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil or with a rack and coat them with the marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
 
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the ribs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.
 
While the ribs are baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot that will hold all the ribs: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
 
When the ribs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until the rib meat is tender.
 
Turn the heat on high, uncover the pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Be sure to reduce the heat as the sauce thickens or the sugars in the honey will burn! When the ribs are sticky and gooey, they’re ready.
 
Substituting grapefruit for the lemon works really well. And I like to switch the honey for maple syrup! Yum!
 

 

ASIAN BACON

Posted: February 13, 2022 in bacon, Carnivore!, Food, frying, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

Sometimes the happiest of cooking accidents happen with bacon. My original plan was to make Chinese-style honey ribs for dinner. But instead of pulling a nice rack of ribs out of the freezer, I accidentally took out a slab of pork belly. I only realized my mistake after I thawed it, so I decided to use it! The results were pretty damn tasty.

Maple syrup is a great substitute for the honey.

image

Marinade:
¾ cup light soy sauce
6 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
5 lbs. pork belly
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
image
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the marinade ingredients. Set them aside.
Cut the pork belly into pieces that are about 2 inches square. Place them in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring the pot to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain the water.
Place the pork belly pieces on a sheet pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil. Coat them with the marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Bake the pork belly pieces on the sheet pan in the oven for 30 minutes.
While the pork belly is baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
When the pork belly pieces have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for about 15 minutes or until meat is tender.
Turn the heat on high, uncover the pot and cook until the sauce has reduced to a glaze that coats the meat. Reduce the heat as the sauce thickens to avoid the sugars in the honey from burning. When the pieces are sticky and gooey, they are ready!
Devour them just like that, or…
Let a piece of pork belly cool, then slice it to your desired thickness and fry it like regular bacon. It’s great with an omelet!
image
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