Thursday, October 17, 2013

Braised Pork Belly with Lemongrass

My sister gave me a bunch of lemongrass, harvested from her garden. I was browsing thru a local magazine, looking for some ideas for dinner, when this recipe caught my attention. It looks delicious, and decided to try this dish.

Really simple and easy, with very few ingredients. The pork belly are cut to bite-sized chunks and marinated with some light soy sauce, salt and cornstarch. These are then deep-fried in hot oil until brown on all sides. Drain and keep aside. 

Peeled whole shallots are sauteed in hot oil until fragrant and blistered a little, then the bruised lemon grass are added in and stir-fry until fragrant. Add in the fried pork belly, add some water, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and some sugar to taste. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 1 hour or until the meat is tender. You may need to add additional water if it gets too dry. I have used a minimum of sugar as I do not like very sweet dishes. Adjust to your own taste.


This dish is very delicious and tasty. The family love it!


The fragrance and taste of the lemon grass really is wonderful. Very delicious eaten with plain white rice, the meat is soft tender and full of flavour and fragrance from the lemon grass. After the long braising, the shallots has been mashed into the sauce. Do not be too tempted to add on the lemon grass as too strong a taste and smell can overpower a dish. This dish is family approved!


(My adjustments are in blue. Adjust the soya sauce, both light and dark, according to taste)
Braised Pork Belly with Lemon Grass
(adapted from "Yum Yum Magazine, issue no. 79)
1 kg pork belly, cut into pieces (medium-sized pieces)
1 cup oil for deep-frying
6 shallots, peeled
6 stalks lemongrass, crushed

Marinade :
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp light soya sauce (I use 3 tbsps)
2 tbsp cornstarch (I use 3 tbsps)

Seasoning :
4 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp sugar (I use 1 tsp)
1 tbsp dark soya sauce (I use 2 tbsp)
600ml water

  1. Mix pork belly with marinade and deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown. Dish and drain.
  2. Leave 1 tbsp oil in wok and saute shallots until aromatic. Add lemongrass and stir-fry until fragrant.
  3. Add in pork belly, seasoning and bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour or until pork is tender. Dish and serve.
#102/100

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Mich of Piece of Cake at this post.



Ingredient for this month is Soy Beans

I'm sharing this post with :

 photo 77951578-1914-4b72-8eda-9e40a91183ac_zps331eb4b4.jpg


22 comments:

  1. Hi Joyce
    I am always in a dilemma,scratching my head what to cook for dinner. Cooking the same old dish with the same flavour is boring, right? I like the aroma and flavour of lemongrass so I can imagine this dish is so flavourful. Let me get hold of pork belly and will give this a try. Thanks Joyce!

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  2. ok i take back my words.. not only are you good with baking ang moh bread, you are good with chinese dishes as i run through your blog! you are a star!

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  3. Hi Joyce,

    Unlike you, I like my braised dish sweet... I don't mean very sweet but just sweet. Kind of hard to define, isn't it? - LOL!

    Zoe

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  4. Very simple yet can tell it's very aromatic and delicious, must ask my neighbour for 6 stocks of serai:P

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  5. Lemongrass must make this braised pork belly dish very aromatic and flavourful!

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  6. Joyce, for a strange reason, I love meat that is dark in colour from braising, frying or grilling. It tells me that it's going to be really yummy :) I love how your pork belly looks and I'm sure with that fragrant aroma of lemongrass, it's definitely very good!! Mr G would definitely love this! I'm going to try this soon :)

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  7. Hi Joyce, this is the first time I see lemongrass being used in a braising dish and it sounds really interesting. Braise pork belly is my favourite and my mom doesn't add sugar as well when she braise the pork, she will say, "Sweet sweet one so weird!" haha! Have a great week ahead!

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  8. Joyce, I've brought my own bowl of rice, shall we start eating this dish?

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  9. look delicious Im sure the men of this house will be happy with this (daigther is vegetarian)
    xx

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  10. My family loves pork belly. What a great dish!

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  11. Amazing and lovely looking pork belly. Thanks for this lovely preparation.
    Deepa

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  12. Hi Joyce , this is one yummy dish , the ingredients goes together so well , thanks for sharing :).

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  13. The lemongrass must give out such a nice aroma to this dish. :)

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  14. Hi Joyce, I like lemongrass and I will always have some stocks in my kitchen as I use it a lot in my cooking. Hehehe... just cooked this the other day too. It's indeed very yummy and fragrant too. Have a great day ahead and cheers :)

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  15. Oh I am just imagining how good this dish tastes and smells. The ingredients are on my shopping list for next week.

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  16. Un plato delicioso,saludable y aromático lindo color,abrazos.

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  17. Joyce, you shiny yummy looking pork belly is really teasing me! Must try this soon!

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  18. You Chinese really love your pork belly and soy sauce combination ! Er I'm not Chinese and I absolutely adore that combo as well lol This dish looks very flavorful , Joyce ! Love the use of lemongrass in this .

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  19. Pork belly! My favourite. The dish look so good!. I'm going to try it out. Thanks for sharing :)

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  20. Hi Joyce, seen this recipe, yet to try. Thanks for preparing it and the feedback. Bookmarked

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  21. Hi Joyce, after trying Diana Gale's Lemongrass Chicken, I think I'm more confidence in frying now.
    My hubby and kids love pork belly. I'll try it out ;)

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  22. I've never tasted a pork dish with lemongrass (sad I know), but I'm definitely trying this one!

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