Crispy Thai Basil Pork Belly
Serves: 3-4 | Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 30-45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
500g Pork belly, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp Ground white pepper
¾ cup Plain flour
4-5 Birds’ eye chillies (I like it spicy)
3-4 garlic cloves
½ tsp Salt
1-2 cup Green basil
Vegetable oil for frying (I use rice bran oil)
Olive oil
Sauce
1 tbsp Brown sugar
4 tbsp Oyster sauce
3 tbsp Fish sauce
METHOD
Step 1
Coat the pork belly with plain flour and white pepper.
Step 2
In a fry pan, pour enough vegetable oil to ensure that at least half the width of the pork belly will be covered. Heat oil on medium-high heat.
Step 3
When the oil is ready for frying, shallow fry all the pork belly in batches by cooking the pork belly on one side for 2-3 minutes or until golden and crispy. Repeat the process on the other side.
Set fried pork belly aside on a plate with paper towel underneath.
Step 4
Use a mortar and pestle to pound the chilli, garlic and salt into a paste.
Step 5
Mix the brown sugar, oyster sauce and fish sauce in a small bowl.
Step 6
In a wok or fry pan, heat olive oil over high heat. Add the chilli paste and cook until golden. Add the fried pork belly and sauce and toss until well combined. Add the basil and toss until just wilted.
Step 7
Remove from heat and serve (usually with rice).
TIPS
Deep fry the pork belly in batches. If you overcrowd the pan, that will reduce the heat of the oil and result in a less than perfect crispy fried pork.
Make sure to set aside the pork belly on paper towel. The paper towel helps to remove excess oil from the frying process.
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can just finely dice the garlic and chilli.
If you don’t want it to be as saucy as mine, reduce the oyster sauce and fish sauce by 1 tbsp each.
I typically use normal basil because it’s more readily available in my local area. However, feel free to use traditional Thai basil!