How to cook Five-Spice Pork Belly with Forced Rhubarb

Name: How to cook Five-Spice Pork Belly with Forced Rhubarb
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 210 min
Total time: 4 h
Yield: 4+

30 mins
3 hours 30 mins
medium
4+

Recipe by

Jeff Baker

Ingredients

Ingredients for the pork belly:
1.25kg Flat pork belly
2 tsp. Chinese 5 spice powder
1 tbls. Chicken schmaltz or oil
Sea salt
Ingredients for the rhubarb compote
300g forced rhubarb peeled & sliced into baton
2 banana shallots peeled & diced
50ml pomegranate molasses
100g sugar
10ml red wine vinegar
Pinch 5 spice powder
Zest of ½ orange
Thumbnail piece ginger peeled & finely diced
1 star anise

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Introduction

Forced rhubarb from the world-famous 'Yorkshire triangle' is becoming a seasonal delicacy with chefs and home cooks. Grown in the dark to produce those wonderful pink stems, it's a real treat to eat fresh as we anticipate Springs's arrival. Forced rhubarb is super versatile, working well in both savoury and sweet dishes. The recipe below has been inspired by our brilliant and handy seasonal eating guide which you can download for your own kitchen here. Make this dish in advance & store it in the freezer up to 1 month, or pair with grilled black pudding, pork chops or even grilled mackerel fillets for a tasty alternative.

Method

five-spice pork belly with forced rhubarb recipe ingredients

Preheat your oven to 150°C /130°C fan assisted (gas 2).
Make sure the pork is nice & dry, wipe over with some kitchen paper to remove any moisture.
Rub the pork all over with a little schmaltz & salt then the spices only on the meat.
Place the pork on a sheet of foil & cover the meat leaving the skin exposed.
Place in the oven and cook for 3 hours until tender.
Raise the temperature of the oven to 220c fan & cook for a further 20 minutes to crisp up the crackling.

Preheat your oven to 180°C /160°C fan assisted (gas 4).
Layer the rhubarb onto a tray, sprinkle with a little sugar & bake for 15 minutes until tender.
In a saucepan combine the pomegranate molasses, vinegar, sugar and orange zest & juice, ginger, anise & shallot then bring to a boil.
Simmer over moderately low heat, stirring often, until rich & syrupy then add the baked rhubarb & continue to cook until thick & glossy, remove the star anise.
Transfer to a blender and puree.