Pork Belly and Pak Choi Noodle Soup
Making this fragrant and tasty Pork Belly and Pak Choi Noodle Soup for dinner may take a bit a time, but it's well-worth the effort, I can assure you! Happy Saturday!
Ingredients (serves 3):
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 heaped tablespoon Ginger Paste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Hot Pepper Sauce
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 heaped tablespoon pure honey
½ cup water
1 ½ tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger
a large garlic clove, minced
half a red Garden Chilli
2 beautiful pak choi
3 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon Nuoc mam (fish sauce)
5 cups water
90 grams/3 ounces large rice noodles
1 tablespoon demerara sugar
Preheat oven to 200°C/395°F.
Using a sharp knife, remove the thick pig skin from the pork belly, so you are left with a layer of fat. With the knife, score the fat in a criss-cross manner.
Combine minced garlic, Ginger Paste, soy sauce, Hot Pepper Sauce and black pepper in a small bowl. Stir in sesame oil and honey until well-blended. Generously rub ginger and soy mixture all over the pork belly.
Sit pork belly, fat-side up, into a roasting tin, and pour water at the bottom of the tin.
Place roasting tin into the hot oven, and roast, at 200°C/395°F, for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown on top.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
In a large wok, heat toasted sesame oil over medium-high heat.
Peel ginger, and cut it into very thin slices. Add to the wok, and fry, a couple of minutes. Add garlic, and cook, 1 minute more.
Thinly slice Garden Chilli, and stir into the wok. Cook, a couple of minutes.
Thoroughly rinse pak choi under cold water.
Cut off and discard the bottom of the pak choi, and cut off the leaves, reserving for later. Chop white part of the pak choi, and stir into the wok. Cook, coating in oil and spices, about 5 minutes.
Deglaze with soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, and Nuoc Mam. Stir in water, and bring to the boil.
In a smaller pot, bring water to the boil.
Once boiling, stir in the rice noodles. Cook, 7 minutes.
Remove from the heat, drain the noodles, rinsing under cold water and plunge them in a bowl filled with ice water. Set aside.
Stir demerara sugar into the wok, until dissolved.
Finally, stir in reserved pak choi leaves, and cook until just wilted.
Once cool enough to handle, cut soy and ginger pork belly into thin slices.
Drain rice noodles and place a heap at the bottom of each of three shallow plates. Top with hot pak choi broth. Finally, scatter soy and ginger pork belly on top.
Serve Pork Belly and Pak Choi Noodle Soup immediately.















