serves
4
prep
20 minutes
cook
3:30 hours
difficulty
Mid
serves
4
people
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
3:30
hours
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
For the pork belly
- 70 g (2½ oz) acacia or manuka honey
- 50 g (1¾ oz) tomato sauce (ketchup)
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 4 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 10 g piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- ½ red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
- ¼ French shallot, finely chopped
- 75 g (2½ oz) quince (about ¼ large quince), peeled and cut into 2 cm (¾ in) wedges
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) pork belly, all bones removed, skin removed or scored
For the kale
- 20 g (¾ oz) butter
- pinch of sea salt
- 280 g (9¾ oz) westland winter or red curled kale leaves
- 8 nero di toscana kale leaves
To serve
- 150 g (5½ oz) quince purée
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 120°C (100°C fan-forced/Gas ½).
For the pork belly, in a medium lidded casserole, mix all the ingredients except the pork. Add the belly and baste with the sauce. Bake for 3 hours, basting with the sauce every 20 minutes. When cooked, the pork will be firm but offer a little resistance when a knife is inserted. Lift the pork out of the casserole and set aside to rest, loosely covered with foil.
Strain the cooking juices into a saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the volume of liquid by half so it thickly coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and reserve.
For the kale, in a large lidded saucepan, mix together 100 ml (3½ fl oz) water, the butter and salt, and bring to the boil. Add both varieties of kale and cook, covered with a lid, for 3-4 minutes, until barely cooked but still retaining a bit of bite and their wonderful colour. Drain well.
To serve, spread a spoonful of the quince purée in the centre of each plate. Add the kale, then slice the pork belly and divide between the plates. Finish with a little more purée and scatter over the sesame seeds.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
