Oven Baked Chinese-Style Pork Belly With Rice

Before you begin...

This recipe takes around 5-10 min to prep, so get your casserole dish and all your ingredients ready, then wash your fruit and veg

Note: Make sure your dish is oven-proof and safe to use on the hob. Don't have one? Start cooking in a large, wide-based pan then transfer to an oven-proof dish and cover tightly with foil

Now, let's get started!

Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ gas 7

Boil a kettle

Heat a large, wide-based hob-safe oven-proof casserole dish with a matching lid, with a drizzle of vegetable oil over a high heat

Score the fatty side of your pork belly in a criss-cross pattern by drawing a sharp knife through the skin, deep enough to reach the meat below

Season with a small pinch of salt and rub it into the criss-cross pattern

Add the scored pork belly, fat-side down, to the dish and cook for 2 min or until the fat is slightly golden, then remove to a plate

Peel and chop your brown onion[s] into wedges

Deseed your pepper[s] (scrape the seeds and pith out with a teaspoon) and chop into large chunks

Top, tail and chop your carrot[s] into discs on the diagonal

Add the onion wedges and carrot discs to the dish

Add your soy sauce to the dish with your Chinese rice wine, five-spice mix (not a fan of five-spice? Only add a little!), ground smoked paprika, ginger & garlic paste, 1 tbsp [1 1/2 tbsp] [2 tbsp] flour and 2 tsp [3 tsp] [4 tsp] sugar

Stir in 400ml [525ml] [700ml] boiled water, bring to the boil, then add the pork belly to the dish, skin-side up

Put the dish in the oven and cook, uncovered, for an initial 40 min or until the sauce has thickened and the pork is golden brown

Once the pork has had 25 min, reboil the kettle

Add your white long grain rice to an oven-proof dish with 300ml [390ml] [600ml] boiled water

Cover tightly with tin foil and put the dish in the oven for 30 min or until all the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked

Use this time to clear up, set the table, have a cup of tea or simply chill!

Once the pork has had 40 min, remove the dish from the oven and add the chopped pepper

Tip: Nestle the pepper chunks into the sauce as much as you can!

Return the dish to the oven and cook, covered, for 18-20 min further or until the pepper is tender and the pork belly is cooked through (no pink meat!)

Once done, remove the cooked pork belly from the dish, leave to rest for 5 min, then slice into 3 slices per person on a clean chopping board