CHINESE PLUMS RECIPES

Steps:

• Bring a very large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pork belly and boil for 15 mins until cooked. Cool to room temperature, then cut into 4cm chunks and make sure they’re dry.
• Heat some of the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and brown the pork in batches. Once browned, set aside. Put the onion, spring onion whites, ginger, garlic and coriander stalks in a blender and whizz to a paste.
• After browning the pork, wipe out the dish, add the paste with a splash of water and gently heat until softened. Stir in the five-spice powder, star anise, cinnamon and 1 tsp ground pepper. Fry for 1 min, then add the sugar, soy sauces, hoisin sauce, vinegar and ginger syrup. Return the pork, plus any juices, then crumble in the stock cube and add enough water to just cover. Stir in a third of the plums and bring to a gentle simmer while you heat oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3. Cover the dish and bake for 2 1/2 hrs.
• Lift the pork into an ovenproof dish, cover with foil and keep warm in a low oven. Put the sauce back on the hob and boil until reduced by about half. Add the remaining plums and cook for a few mins more, then return the pork. Finely slice the spring onion greens and scatter over with the coriander leaves. Serve with jasmine rice and stir-fried greens.

Steps:

• Cut plums in half and remove stone. Then cut again into quarters. Place plum pieces in a food processor and puree until the there are small flecks of skin still visible. Pour the puree into a mixing bowl.
• Grate the garlic with a microplane if you have one, otherwise, chop very fine and add to the plum puree.
• Add chili and soy sauce to plums.
• In a separate container, mix the honey and vinegar together until the honey is dissolved, then pour the mixture into the plum puree.
• Add the chopped green onions.
• Stir and refrigerate at least an hour before serving. Flavors will mellow with time.