Our first Sio Bak

Entry from my old blog.

Just the other day we were watching Rick Stein cooking Crispy Roast Pork Belly (aka Siu Yuk aka Sio Bak) on TV. I was wondering...if an ang moh guy can do it so can two Chinese gundus. We have most of the ingredients mentioned, 'cept for pork belly, 5 spice powder and sechuan pepper. Since we were in Birmingham then, it wasn't hard to get those ingredients ;)
You see... if you live your whole life in Malaysia, or in a place where Chinese food (we're not even mentioning high class cuisine) are aplenty, you'll take them for granted. If you're uprooted to a foreign place with little choice for chinese food...you'll end up like me; cook cook cook, and get a deep sense of accomplishment.

I think if I'm ever out of job, or get tired of my vocation..I'll be a chef. That's my second calling... hmmmmm..

Look at the pics above. This is our first attempt, after researching more than 10 recipes online. Aesthetically it may not be comparable to those from Chinese restaurants, but it's yummyyyyyyy.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
Pork belly (3 layer pork) - 8 strips of 1 X 5 inches (can buy one big chunk if you can find it, we couldn't)
Seasoning (1 teaspoon of each, for each strip):
5 spice powder
Szechuan pepper, crushed
Garlic granules or finely chopped garlic
Salt
Sugar
White vinegar
Bamboo Skewers

Preparations:
1) To prepare the seasoning, on a dry wok heat up 5 spice powder, garlic granule, szechuan pepper and salt to marry the flavour. Add sugar last and after a quick stir lift it off the fire and set aside.
2) Boil 2 cups of water with 2-3 tablespoon of vinegar.
3) Scald the skin of the pork with the water-vinegar mixture. Do not scald the meat. Skew through the strip of pork to keep the skin from wrinkling.
4) Marinate the meat with (1) above, and season the skin with salt. Leave overnight in the fridge unwrapped to dry the pork well.
5) Preheat the oven to 200 centigrade. Place the pork belly on a grill rack, which is placed above the grill pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
6) After that, add water to the pan and switch to grill for another 15-20 minutes until the skin crackles.
7) Let it cool in room temperature, remove the skewer and slice. Serve with white rice and green veg.

The effect is....juicy succulent meat with crunchy skin. I don't really fancy meat that much, but I love this!
Not bad for a first attempt. We'll probably try to perfect it next time.