Cooking Lesson #7— Instant Pot Caramel Pork Belly

How you doin’? Here we are on day number… oh, heck—it’s just another day. It appears that most of the people reading this blog are doing okay. I continue to cook up a storm. My favorite Los Angeles meat and poultry markets, Huntington Meat and Farmers Market Poultry, are still open (no lines), have plenty of variety and they even deliver (locally). Gelson’s markets still have had a great selection of produce, but with the farmers having problems selling their crops I don’t know how long that will last. 
 
From the emails and photo images all of you have sent (keep 'em coming), it appears that you are up for the challenge of my recipes. I haven’t segregated them based on easy to hard, just some of my favorites. So, I decided to take it up a notch today and give you a recipe that is a little baroque (complex) and see how many of you are going to give it a try—Instant Pot Caramel Pork Belly.

The best Pork Belly I’ve eaten came from the kitchen of Tom Colicchio at Craft, Century City. It was and still is one of the most sensational dishes to come out of any restaurant kitchen—each bite is pure indulgence. Now, thanks to the Instant Pot, it takes a lot less time to prepare. What else do you have to do? Not everyone can get to Huntington Meat Market, but you will be able to find pork belly in specialty meat markets or a good Asian market. Buy a whole slab and don’t cut it before you cook it. Now, let the adventure begin.
 
Prep time:  30 minutes
Cook time:  1 hour 40 minutes
Yield:  4 to 6 servings
 
Ingredients
For the spice blend
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon roasted garlic powder
 
For cooking the pork belly
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup sherry
1-pound thick cut pork belly (not bacon)
 
For finishing the pork belly
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 bunch green onions: white parts chopped; green parts cut into 3 1/2-inch lengths
whole pork belly (cooked in the Instant Pot)
salt to taste
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon ginger juice
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 cup water
4 cloves garlic, sliced
4 whole dried red chile peppers
 
Directions

1. In a small bowl combine the ingredients of the spice blend.
2. Rub the fatty side of the pork belly with the spice blend.
3. Pour the broth and the sherry into the Instant Pot.
4. Now place the spiced pork belly on a trivet in the Instant Pot, spice side up.
5. Close and lock the lid.  Set to HIGH manual pressure for 80 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 15 minutes to come to pressure.
6. When the 80 minutes are up, carefully Quick Release the pressure using the pot’s pressure release valve.
7. Preheat your oven to 400° F. 
8. Lay a large sheet of aluminum foil on a half sheet pan.  Pour the vegetable oil over the foil lined half sheet pan. 
9. Cut pork into 8- to 16-pieces.
10. Sprinkle the chopped white portion of the green onions down the center of the foil.  Carefully place pork belly pieces, fatty side down, on top of the onions.
11. Place the remaining green onions (the green part) on top of pork belly.
12. In a skillet over medium heat, mix 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar and all of the rice vinegar, fish sauce, ginger juice, and soy sauce. Stir to combine.
13. Stir in additional tablespoon of the brown sugar and increase heat to medium-high.
14. Pour water, garlic cloves, chile peppers and the remaining brown sugar into the glaze; simmer until sauce thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes
15. Brush the glaze over the pork belly to coat on the exposed sides of the pork belly pieces. Be sure they remain fatty side down.
16. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes to crisp.
17. Serve hot and crisp.

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