So this morning I was staring at a chunk of pork belly in my fridge thinking, “What if I turn this into finger food?” Grabbed my notebook to scribble down ideas before hitting the grocery store. Needed pickled ginger, green onions, and sesame oil – forgot them twice while shopping because I was texting and pushing the cart simultaneously.
Prepping Disaster Mode
Back home, slapped that pork belly skin-side down on the cutting board. Tried scoring diamonds on the fat layer with my dull kitchen knife – ended up with uneven squares looking like a toddler’s art project. Dropped the whole thing into my biggest pot with star anise and peppercorns. Boiled it for 45 minutes until fork-tender, splashing murky water all over my stovetop.
Sauce Shenanigans
Made the glaze while waiting. Poured equal parts soy sauce and honey into a saucepan, then got creative:
- Dumped in minced garlic until it looked “garlicky enough”
- Added chili flakes like I was seasoning popcorn
- Zested an orange straight into the bubbling mix
Stirred until it thickened into this glossy lava that stuck to the spoon. Burnt my pinky testing the consistency.
Crispy Catastrophe
Drained the pork belly and patted it dry with paper towels. Heated oil in the wok until it shimmered – tossed in the pork skin-down first. Oil went ballistic, popping like fireworks. Duck-behind-the-fridge situation for real. Fried in batches until golden, fished them out with shaky tongs.
Dunked hot pork pieces into the glaze bucket, coating each chunk until they looked like sticky jewels. Topped with sliced green onions and crushed peanuts for crunch.
Reality Check
Served these glistening pork cubes to my neighbor Dave. He ate three, paused, then chugged a whole glass of milk. “Spice level’s nuclear, mate” he wheezed. Lesson learned: chili tolerance ain’t universal. But the sweet-salty-crispy combo? Heavenly. Might remake these for game night after adjusting the damn chili flakes.
