Braised Pork Belly & Sweet Potato Mash

A recipe by Simmer Thyme

Simmer Thyme is made up of diverse duo, @mantsoepout and @thefreeds. This passionate pair have teamed up with yours truly to bring South Africans delectable dishes rooted in a love for good old-fashioned home cooking. Without giving too much away, they have given us a taster of what’s to come and we are so excited to share it with you! First up from our favourite foodies is this mouth-watering braised pork belly served with creamy sweet potato mash. It’s incredibly easy to make and absolutely delicious. Give it a try!

Ingredients

For the pork:

1kg pork belly
6 fresh bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, crushed
8 cardamom pods
5 star aniseed
1 tbsp fennels seeds
olive oil
sea salt and pepper
2 onions finely chopped
500ml white wine
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 carrots, thinly sliced
500ml chicken stock

For the mash:

2 potatoes
1 sweet potato
100ml cream
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp butter

Get started

– Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
– Heat a large oven-safe pan, or your roasting tray on the stove top over medium heat.
– Add onions, carrots, fennelseed, aniseed, cardamom and garlic to your pan, drizzle with olive oil and sauté over a medium heat.
– Score the skin of the pork belly diagonally into a diamond pattern.
– Place the pork belly, skin side down, into the pan and brown till crisp. Turn the belly and brown the reverse side.
– Pour wine and stock over the pork and bring to a boil.
– Place in oven and cook for 1-2 hours.
– While the pork is in the oven, prepare your mash!
– Peel and boil your potatoes until soft.
– Strain and transfer back to the pot, and mash!
– Add cream, butter & salt and pepper to taste.
– Transfer the pork belly to a serving dish and pour out the excess fat from the pan.
– Return the pan to the stovetop and stir in the mustard.
– Cook it for a couple of minutes on the hob to make a gravy, strain into a jug and serve with the pork.