Samgyeopsal

“Directly translated from Korean, samgyeop-sal (삼겹살) means "three layer flesh," referring to striations of lean meat and fat in the Pork belly that appear as three layers when cut.” - Which is kind of cool as we were looking for a recipe starting with “S” for our Ingredients Alphabet and there was a good sized bit of belly Pork in the discounts fridge.

I have slightly modified an existing recipe to suit the bit & bobs we had in the cupboards. But by sifting the Cshew nuts out of a bag of Fruit & Nuts we were given at Christmas, I managed to stay pretty close.

Ingredients:-

Boneless Belly Pork
½ a large Onion, sliced
1/8 of a Red Cabbage, sliced
1/8 of a Sweetheart Cabbage, sliced
3 small Carrots, cut into fine batons
Fine Rice Noodles
3 whole dried Red Chillies
3 cloves of Garlic, sliced (We used or home Lacto Pickled ones)
Chilli flakes
Fish Sauce
Spirit Vinegar
Tomato Puree
A small handful of Cashew Nuts
Cornflour
Salt & Pepper
Oil

Method:-

(1) Preheat the oven to 160c
(2) In an oven tray add a little oil and lay the whole Chillies and Garlic in the middle.
(3) Rub the Belly Pork in Oil, sprinkle with Salt, Pepper and Chilli Flakes and rub into both the rind and flesh.
(4) Lay the Belly Pork in the oven tray and place in the oven.
(5) Roast slowly for 1 ½ hours.
(6) In a small saucepan add the Vinegar, Fish Sauce and Tomato Puree and bring to simmer.
(7) Add the Cashew Nuts and a T Spoon of Chilli Flakes and simmer for 20 minutes.
(8) Add a T Spoon of Cornflour to water and mix well.
(9) In a Wok or frying pan fry the Carrots and Onions on a high heat until the Onions are softened.
(10) Reduce the heat and add the Cabbage. Stirring well.
(11) Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the Rice Noodles.
(12) As soon as the water reaches boiling again drain the Noodles and set aside.
(13) Remove the Belly Pork from the oven and slice into 1cm thick slices. Remove any crackling you might have to add as a garnish.
(14) Add the Cornflour and water mix to the sauce and simmer until it thickens.
(15) add the majority of the sauce to the stir-fried vegetables, reserving a little to pour over the Pork.
(16) Run boiling water through the Noodles and add to your plates.
(17) Add the stir-fried vegetables over the Noodles and add 3 to 4 sliced of Belly Pork on top.
(18) Dress with the remaining sauce and crackling if there was any.

This was quite a change of flavours to our recent meals. The Fish Sauce base added a good savoury flavour with an acidic kick.