I love it when you’re making dinner and happen upon something really special. I was in the mood for some good old comfort food, and being brought up on my mum’s delicious chinese cooking, for me that tends to veer towards the orient.

I started cooking with a rough idea in mind; Roast belly pork reminiscent of an asian barbeque. I commited to achieving this in every way possible except using a recipe. I spent hours in the kitchen simmering my little pot of homemade sauce and basting the life out of that lovely piece of meat. So, in other words I winged it, albeit wholeheartedly! Dedication is obviously the key though because it turned out better than I could have hoped!

What I managed to pull together after my kitchen foray into barbeque heaven was this:

Unctuously glazed belly pork cooked in a deliciously addictive sticky sauce, topped with spring onion. The nice balance of chilli heat, sweetness, saltiness and acidity gave it a predominantly umami flavour – guaranteed to make you weak in the knees! As with asian food in general, it’s all about getting that balance. I served it with some spicy pickled cucumber, roasted peanuts, a little red pepper and corn salad and of course, some fluffy steamed rice.

I may try this out again sometime soon and jot down some notes as I go along, because this is definitely a recipe worth remembering.