MODERN CINESE

TV chef and School of Wok founder Jeremy Pang shares his top recipes for Chinese New Year and beyond

- JEREMY PANG

TWICE-COOKED PORK BELLY

Pork belly in any form is one of those ingredients that finds its way into Chinese households all year round. It was one of my dad’s final wishes before he went up to the heavens, and my sister always seems to have a slab of pork belly fat or skin ready for crackling or a soup dumpling craving. In our family, we cook it numerous ways over Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. For this recipe, poaching the belly before cooling, slicing and frying it gives each bite a crisp edge. I’ve come up with a simple way of setting out your prepared ingredients to help you cook them in order. It’s called the ‘wok clock’. Starting at 12 o’clock, you set out your ingredients all the way around the plate, then add them to the wok one at a time. All the prep should be done in advance as everything cooks so quickly – the wok clock is a good way to organise prepped veg and speed up the cooking process. Dunk the shredded red chilli and spring onion in an ice bath for 5 minutes so they curl up, then drain on kitchen paper for an effortless upgraded garnish.

2 HOURS 10 MINUTES + COOLING + MARINATING

SERVES 2-4 | EASY

pork belly 400g, skin on

onion ½, finely sliced

ginger thumb-sized piece, peeled and cut into matchsticks

garlic 3 cloves, finely sliced

red chilli 1 large, roughly chopped

carrot 1, finely sliced on the diagonal (optional)

celery 2 sticks with leaves attached, finely sliced on the diagonal (optional)