Elizabeth Hewson’s sticky star anise pork
It’s not particularly glamorous eating, but is sure to deliver high satisfaction at the dinner table.
The recipes this week really hit the spot. Sticky soy, ginger and star anise pork is followed up by my self-saucing banana and coconut pudding. It’s not particularly glamorous eating, but is sure to deliver high satisfaction at the dinner table.
The first dish takes inspiration from braised soy pork. My version here is not considered authentic, but rather a product of me pottering in the kitchen one day chasing an idea of sticky, salty, sweet pork.
Some other delicious recipes you may love:
- You’ll want seconds of this hearty stew
- Surf ‘n’ turf, Spanish style
- How to make the ultimate moussaka
Kecap manis is an Indonesian sauce that is typically made with palm sugar and soy sauce. It’s thick and viscous, and brings lovely caramel and slightly smoky notes to the dish. It can be easily picked up from the supermarket, and is one of those sauces that I always have in the pantry. Its addition here gives the pork a depth of flavour that makes this dish taste like it required significantly more effort than it does. I love hacks like this.
I most often use shoulder here, but neck works well too. You’re looking for the hardworking muscles of the pig, which, when cooked low and slow, transform into meat that falls apart with the soft touch of a fork. This pork is a wonderfully simple anchor to build a meal around. Mostly I serve it with a bowl of crisp iceberg lettuce, some fiery chilli, crunchy fried shallots (picked up from the supermarket), fresh spring onions, and rice. But it’s equally good stuffed in brioche rolls with a crunchy slaw, with tacos or even noodles.
Braised sticky pork with ginger and star anise
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or grapeseed oil
- 1.5kg boneless pork shoulder or neck, cut into 4cm chunks (ask your butcher to do this)
- 1 onion, sliced
- 7cm piece ginger, peeled and finely sliced
- 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 125ml (½ cup) Chinese cooking wine
- 125ml (½ cup) kecap manis
- 60ml (¼ cup) light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 350ml chicken stock
- 3 star anise
- 1 red eye chilli, whole
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- To serve
- Rice, for four
- Chopped fresh chili
- Iceberg lettuce, finely sliced
- Fried shallots
- Spring onions
Method
- Heat oil in a large, heavy-based casserole with a lid over medium heat. Brown pork in batches, roughly cooking for about 4 minutes each side. You’re looking for a nice caramelised, golden crust. Take your time here; your braise will thank you later. Remove pork and set aside.
- Reduce heat slightly; add onion, ginger and garlic, tossing around for 5 minutes until starting to soften, adding a drizzle more oil if needed. Add the wine and let it bubble away for a minute or two until reduced by half, scraping all the delicious sticky bits of pork off the bottom of the pan. Follow with kecap manis, soy sauce, brown sugar, chicken stock, star anise, chilli, salt and pepper. Bring it to a bubbling boil and simmer for 5 minutes to allow flavours to come together and reduce.
- Add pork back in, along with the juices that have steeped out. Turn heat down to low, cover with lid and leave to cook for 1 hour. Remove lid, give everything a big stir, and leave to cook for another hour, this time uncovered to help sauce reduce, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Your pork should be falling apart, and the liquid around it should have reduced to a dark, glossy sauce.
- If you have too much liquid, transfer meat into a bowl and cover with a spoonful of sauce to keep it moist while you reduce the juices by simmering for a further 10 or so minutes. Return the meat to the pan and heat through. Use forks to shred meat and toss through sauce. Remove star anise. Serve pork in a large bowl alongside rice, chilli, iceberg lettuce, spring onions and fried shallots for everyone to dig in. Serves 4