Pork Belly with Fig and Mandarins
Pork belly, (fig) jam, onions, mandarins, soy sauce.

The pork belly slices I used for this dish were on special and not too fatty. You could substitute sausages or chicken pieces for the pork belly – but note that it won’t need to cook for so long.

I made this dish with the last of a fig jam I had. You can use apricot, plum, marmalade or something similar.

Slice 2 onions and put them in a base of a casserole dish, along with four mandarins, sliced with the skin on.

Lay sliced pork belly on top. Swish a couple of tablespoons of jam in a cup of hot water, then pour it over the meat. Add ¼ cup light soy sauce and put the lid on top. Cook in the oven at 150°C (305°F) for 2-2 ½ hours, taking the lid off near the last half hour. Be sure that there is always some liquid in the dish, and top up with more water if necessary.

When you take the lid off to finish cooking, it will allow the meat to brown a little. This may not need salt because of the soy, but pepper will be a good thing.

Serve this yumminess on rice, then spoon some of the syrupy onion mixture and juice over as well.

– Margôt de Cotesworth

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