Prep Time:  20 minutes, plus overnight        |        Cook Time:  2 hours, 5 minutes        |        Serves:  4

Ingredients

• 800g piece Ironbark Pork pork belly
• Fine salt
• Pure Vita canola oil, for brushing
• 250ml Chefs’ Cupboard liquid chicken stock

Black pepper caramel:

• 150g White Mill caster sugar
• 2 tbsp Remano Speciality white wine vinegar
• Juice and zest of half a navel orange
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Slaw:

• 200g white cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced
• Handful mint leaves
• Handful coriander leaves
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• Asia Green Garden sesame soy dressing, for drizzling
• Imperial Grain jasmine rice, steamed, to serve
• Lime wedges, to serve

Method

1. Dry the pork with paper towel and place on a rack set over a small tray. Sprinkle generously with salt and refrigerate, uncovered overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 220°C. Dry the pork with paper towel, removing any excess salt and moisture. Brush with oil, salt again and place in a small roasting tin. Cook for 30 minutes or until the skin is nice and crispy all over.
3. Remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 160°C. Gently pour the stock around the pork, being careful not to get it on the crackling. Bake for a further 1½ hours or until the meat is very tender. Set aside to rest.
4. Meanwhile, make the caramel by placing the sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a small, heavy-based saucepan set over a medium-high heat. Let it bubble vigorously for a few minutes, shaking the pan every now and then to prevent crystalising. Cook until it becomes a light amber colour. Take off the heat and add the vinegar – it will spit a little! Cool for a few minutes then stir in the orange juice and zest, fish sauce and pepper.
5. Make the slaw by mixing the cabbage, onion, herbs and sesame seeds together with a little of the dressing.
6. Cut the pork into pieces and place onto a platter. Drizzle with the caramel and serve with slaw, steamed rice and lime wedges.

Tip

Use the smallest roasting tin that will accommodate the pork, as you don’t want the chicken stock evaporating and burning.

Cut the cooked pork skin-side down, for a neater, sharper cut.