Slow-roast Asian pork with a salad of cucumber, chilli and soy

Fiona Andersen

This is a great dish to feed a crowd and taste-wise it has just about everything. For stress-free lunch time entertaining simply place prepared pork in a low temperature (100C) overnight with half a cup of water in the roasting dish. Simply check the pork the next morning and increase the temperature to 150C until ready.

Ingredients

1 kg	Pork shoulder, bone removed (Main)
1 tsp	Sea salt
1 pinch	Chilli flakes
2 tsp	Coriander seeds, roasted and ground
4	Garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
5 cm	Fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 Tbsp	Vegetable oil
½	Telegraph cucumbers (Main)
2 cups	Fresh coriander
2	Red chillies, seeds removed and finely sliced
½ cup	Fresh mint
1 cup	Spring onion, cut on a steep slant
1 cup	Baby spinach
1 cup	Basil, (optional)
½ cup	Vietnamese mint leaves, (optional)
3 cups	Jasmine rice, cooked

Dressing

6 Tbsp	Soy sauce (Main)
4 Tbsp	Oyster sauce
2 Tbsp	Fish sauce
1	Garlic clove, peeled and crushed (Main)
1	Red chilli, seeds removed and finely sliced (Main)
1 tsp	Fresh ginger, peeled and crushed

Directions

1. Heat oven to 200C
2. To prepare pork, score skin with a very sharp knife. Crush salt, chilli flakes and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle. Add garlic and ginger and grind to a smooth paste. Muddle with vegetable oil and smear spice mix all over the skin and the flesh of the pork.
3. Place pork into a roasting dish with 6-10cm sides and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, add ½ a cup of water to the roasting dish and cover with foil.
4. Reduce oven to 150C, return pork and cook for a further 2½ hours or until meat is falling apart. Remove from oven and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes.
5. In a stainless steel bowl gently toss cucumber, coriander, chillies, mint, spring onions, baby spinach, basil and Vietnamese mint together and reserve.
6. To make soy, chilli and garlic dressing mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. The dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month.
7. Gently heat jasmine rice and divide between 4 plates. Remove skin and excess fat from pork, portion and serve on top of rice.
8. Drizzle generously with soy, chilli dressing and top with the salad greens. Serve immediately with a little extra dressing if desired.