One of my favorite cuts of meat are pork belly slices. In Dutch they’re called speklapjes. They are different from bacon, because they aren’t cured. It’s a thick slice of pork belly, mostly sold without the skin. Often I make a sticky pan fried version that I usually serve with steamed or fried rice.
Pork belly slices are available in supermarkets over here. If they aren’t available to you, ask your butcher to cut some slices from a piece of pork belly without bones or skin. They’re usually between a quarter inch and half an inch thick.
They go perfectly with fried rice, but work just as well with a potato or pasta salad.
- Ingredients for the sticky pork belly slices:
- 1 to 1.5 slices per person
- Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry
- Soy sauce
- Ketchup
- Flavorless oil
Pour a bit of oil in to a non stick pan and pan fry the slices of pork on a low to medium heat. Allow most of the fat to render down. When the pork belly slices are turning nicely browned, add a splash of Shaoxing wine to the pan. Regularly turn the meat and fry until the wine has disappeared.
Pour a bit of soy sauce and ketchup on the slices. Turn them over and add a bit more soy sauce and ketchup. Fry on a low heat while moving them and turning them over. The marinade will start sticking to the meat.
The sticky pork belly slices are done when they’ve turned a nicely brown color and most of the marinade sticks to the meat and not the pan.
You can serve them as is or cut them into pieces.
You can replace the ketchup with a bit of honey or add a bit of garlic (powder) or thin strips of ginger for extra flavor.
- Ingredients for fried rice:
- Cold steamed rice
- 1 small bok choy
- Frozen peas
- 1 egg
- 2 green onions cut into rings
- Splash of soy sauce to taste
- Flavorless oil
- Optional: sesame oil
Wash and cut the bok choy into strips. Keep the white and green parts seperate. Pan fry the white parts in a wok in a bit of oil until slightly softened. Add the green parts and cook until wilted. Remove from the wok.
Pour in some more oil and fry the rice on a high heat. After a couple of minutes, add the raw egg and immediately stir fry this with the rice until cooked. Add the frozen peas, green onion, bok choy and soy sauce. Optionally add a few drops of sesame oil.
The options are endless. You could add a bit of red chili, garlic or other vegetables. Sometimes I make a very simple version with just some egg, green onion and soy sauce.
I add the sticky pork belly slices at the end or serve them on top of the fried rice.
