CARAMELISED PORK WITH COCONUT RICE

The title of this recipe sounds like it has a lot of elements and is way too hard. Its not! There are 4 components to the dish and all of them are easy.  Each component is sooooo good and integral to the meal I just threw them all in the name!

You will need about 3 hours to cook this but you will only spend about half an hour in the kitchen. For this recipe I have made the heat minimal. For our staff dinner tonight, I used 3 times the amount of chilli I have put in this recipe. It’s up to you.

CARAMELISED PORK WITH COCONUT RICE, CUCUMBER PICKLE AND KUMERA CHIPS

WHAT YOU NEED:

1.4kg pork neck
2 stalks of lemongrass halved lengthways
3 small red chillies halved lengthways
9 kafffir lime leaves
5 cloves of garlic
1 large piece of ginger peeled and sliced
150g of brown sugar
1/4 cup of fish sauce
1 cup of water
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1 telegraph cucumber peeled, deseeded and sliced
2 Granny Smith apples chopped into matchsticks
1 large green chilli finely sliced
sea salt
1/4 cup of cider vinegar
2 tbsp of caster sugar
1 cup of coriander leaves
2 cups of jasmine rice
4 cups of coconut water (canned or bottled is fine)
1 cup of shredded coconut
2 large pieces of kumera (sweet potato)
extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of Chinese five spice powder

 

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 180 °. Place the pork, red chillies, ginger, garlic, 8 kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, brown sugar, fish sauce and water in a baking dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake in the oven for 3 hours turning the pork each hour. If you find your sauce is not thickening up you can leave the foil off for the last hour of cooking.
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Peel and chop your kumera into large chips. Coat with olive oil and Chinese five spice. Add a splash of water and roast in the oven for the final hour.
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Cook your rice using the absorption method according to packet instructions. Substitute water for coconut water and stir through shredded coconut before cooking.
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In a bowl, mix together your cucumber, apple, green chilli and coriander. Season well with sea salt. To make the dressing, dissolve the caster sugar in the vinegar. Dress your salad/pickle just before serving.

 

BUON APPETITO!