Phagsha

This is a dish that I often make at home. Its easy, delicious, keeps for a long time and my family members relish it. I usually cook up a big pot of it and it lasts several days – Enjoy it straight away with some hot sauce, labu salad and some bhaley, or  stir fry the pork with some green chillies, onions and enjoy it with some rice, or it makes a real good cold meat, sliced, dip in some some soya garlic chilli sauce and enjoy.  Hope you like it ….

My Phagsha Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 lbs   Pork Belly or Shoulder Roast – (with skin)

1 Large chunk of Ginger

7-8 cloves of Garlic

1 Teaspoon whole Black Peppercorn

1 Teaspoon whole Emma (Szechuan Pepper)

5 pieces Star Anise

1/2 cup Soya Sauce

1/2 cup Beer

Preparation:

The first step is to prepare the Pork skin by letting it brown directly on a flame, the skin to crackle and brown. This will give nice coloring and soften the rubbery skin. (If you are cooking a larger piece of pork like a shoulder roast, then you should make some sliced cuts into the pork skin – this helps it cook evenly). Now, place your pork in a large pot with all the other ingredients and on a low flame, let the pork simmer until it is cooked. Half way through you can turn the pork over so that it browns nicely on both sides. (40 minutes or at least upto an hour if you’re making pork shoulder).

PS – You can add a little water if you find that the liquid has completely evaporated but usually there is liquid left over. (I added some whole potatoes half way through the cooking – so it would be done along with the meat – turned out quite delicious.)