Gingery Pork Belly in The Rice Cooker
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour (approximately)
- 500g1/1.lbs. pork belly, cut into cubes about 2 inches by 2 inches
- 2 cups brown basmati rice (if you use a different rice, adjust the quantity of liquid below, you want enough liquid as per the rice type instructions plus 100ml/3.5fl ozs)
- 4 boiled eggs, peeled
- 2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1.5 cups chicken stock
- 100ml/35 fl ozs. cooking sake
- 50ml/1.7 fl ozs. mirin
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 100ml/3.5 fl ozs. water extra
Step 1 - Heat a frypan on medium high and brown the pieces of pork belly on the sides to render the excess fat. Meanwhile rinse the rice well. I had to wash it 5 times to make the water run clear. Then add the eggs, ginger, stock, cooking sake, mirin, brown sugar, dark and light soy sauces to the rice. Top with the pork pieces once they're browned and turn on the rice cooker. If yours has a timer you can set it to run for 45 minutes. If yours has an automatic shut off it may turn off after 20 minutes or so. Wait about 5 minutes and then turn it back on.
Step 2 - When the 45 minutes is up, fluff up the rice and mix it up with the pork and eggs gently. It won't be totally cooked yet so add the extra water and then cook it for another 15 minutes until the rice is cooked through.
Variation: you can omit the rice and just cook this in the liquid in the rice cooker for the same amount of time.