Pork belly

This is from A year in my kitchen by Skye Gingell. There are a few minor modifications to the the quantities and if you have access to outdoor cooking facilities, I'd strongly recommend using them. I found the final part of the pork cooking very messy, though I suspect I used a little too much oil and did not dry the pork well enough. . .

Ingredients:

• 2kg of pork belly, skin on and bones in
• Spices - 2 cinnamon quills, 10 cloves, 3 star anise, 6 peppercorns, 1 chilli, 6 cloves of garlic (peeled), medium sized nob of ginger (peeled)
• Roots of three fresh coriander
• Half cup of soy sauce
• Third of a cup of Maple syrup

How?
This could well be called thrice cooked pork belly.
First place the pork belly in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and then remove the pork and dispose of the water. Return the pork to the now cleaned pot and cover with water again. Now add the spices and the coriander and simmer for 2 hours. Remove the pork and set aside, remove the chilli and the ginger and dispose. To the liquid add the soy and Maple syrup and return to the boil and reduce (30-60 minutes, depending on the size of pot and amount of water added), creating a richly flavoured sauce. Slice the pork, and heat a generous splash of oil in a pan till very hot. Add the pork and fry each side for several minutes till golden and crisp.

Serve.
I served mine with steamed broccolini and rice. Top with a generous ladle of now reduced sauce.

Warning.
The final stage of cooking (the frying of the pork) is best done outside. There will be smoke and hot oil splattering everywhere.* Of course using less oil and drying the pork would reduce these problems.

Wine?
I opted for a pinot noir, with good acid and soft structure. It was quite suitable, though I suspect many other red wines (merlot, sangiovese etc) would have been very good as well.

* I have several burns to proves this. . .