Roast Pork Belly with Spiced Plums

Leading up to Christmas I will be sharing 2 of my favourite pork recipes perfect for festive feasting in collaboration with Pork 360 quality assured pork (read all about it here). Pork belly is one of my favourite cuts to eat if done right. I tried many versions of preparing belly, but when I came across Donna Hay's Pork Belly served with Spiced Plum Sauce, I had to give it a go. Inspired by her styling, I tried to keep along the same lines. Clean, fresh and simple. What's marvellous is that she first roasts boneless belly upside-down for an hour, then turns it over and roasts it for a further hour and 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, the festive spiced plum sauce can be prepared with beautiful plums that are now in season. I tweaked her recipe to my liking. The crackling comes out perfectly and the fat between the meat is well rendered, making it super tender. A delightful festive mouthful with sweet & tart spiced plums. Feel free to serve with roast potatoes, I simply served this pork belly with steamed & buttered long-stem broccoli and green beans. I honestly don't think I'll ever cook pork belly any other way again. Donna, you legend! x

[adapted from Donna Hay's original recipe]

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 2 20

Total Time 2 35

Course Side Dish

Servings

Ingredients

1.5 - 2 kg boneless pork belly Pork 360 quality assured, scored at 2 cm intervals
15 ml olive oil
30 ml coarse Malden or flaky cook's salt

Spiced Plums

600 g ripe plums halved and pips removed
45 ml port or old brown sherry
60 ml water
80 ml brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anise
3 cardamom squashed
3 cloves
pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius.
Rub the scored pork skin well with olive oil and salt. Place skin side down onto the rack of a roasting tray. Roast for 1 hour.
Turn pork skin side up and increase oven temperature to 200 Degrees Celsius. Roast for another 1 hour and 10 - 20 minutes(depending on weight) or until the skin is crispy, bubbled up and golden brown. And sounds hollow when tapped with a fork.
Meanwhile, prepare the spiced plums. Place the port, water, sugar and spices in a large frying pan and heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer, then add the plums and cook for no more than ten minutes. Turn them once throughout the cooking process. The plums should be soft and the sauce, reduced. If the sauce hasn't reduced enough, gently remove the plums and simmer the sauce until desired consistency is reached, although, don't reduce too much!
Rest the cooked pork for 15- 20 minutes before slicing into portions.
Serve with spiced plums & buttered steamed greens.