Honey, Soy and Chinese Spice Pork Belly with Celeriac, Wasabi Purée and Prawn and Cauliflower Tempura

This was actually a really simple dish to make.  The only hassle is the tempura but all that involves is battering and frying.  The good thing is everything else can just wait until you have cooked the tempura.  I liked the idea of this dish as you have the succulent pork with the spicy celeriac and the crispy prawn goes very well with the pork dipped in some soy.  Next time I make this however i think i would serve with a more elaborate sauce.  Problem with slow roasting pork belly with the marinade is that it's not like cooking a roast and have lots of lovely browned juices to form the base for a sauce.  However the soy did work well as the saltiness complimented the natural sweetness of the celeriaic and the pork has been marinated with honey.  You could use Hoisin Sauce or make a more elaborate dipping sauce and that you can do by adding sesame oil, lemon juice, garlic and dry sherry.
Ingredients (for 2 people)

• 1lbs pork belly  (the piece I had was very meaty and needed a lot longer to cook)
• 6 cauliflower florets (3 per person)
• 6 raw prawns
• 1/2 Celeriac
• Large teaspoon of wasabi (or use horseradish) 

For the marinade

• 3 star anise
• 1 flat teaspoon of chinese five soice
• 1 flat teaspoon of fennel seed
• 1 flat teaspoon of corriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt

Grind the above in a pestle and mortar and then transfer into a mixing bowl and add the following

• 2 grated cloves of garlic
• 1 piece about 2 inch by 1 inch of ginger grated
• 1 tablespoon of runny honey
• 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons of dark soy
• 1 tablespoon of chopped mint

Stage One

Score the pork belly with a knife but don't cut into the meat.  Pour boiling water over it as this opens the scoring up and the meat tightens up.

Stage Two
Grind the spices in a pestle and mortar and then add them to the remaining marinade ingredients and the coat the pork well.  I coated the rind which in hindsight I wouldn't do again as this does caramelise the fat which means when you come to crisp it at the ends it burns slightly.  Leave this to marinade for at least an hour, longer if you have the time.  I placed the pork on a bed of carrots but you could use a wire tray and then add 1/2 pint of water and cover with tin foil so it doesn't dry out.  It will evaporate so make sure you keep adding water.  This needs to cook for a minimum of 4 hours at around 150 degrees.  I wouls say it totally depends on the cut.  Some pork belly i have had has been very thin and this piece was fat, in terms of meat content and was nearly 4 inches in depth.  This needed at least 5 hours to properly render the fat down.

Stage Three
Cut the celeriac into cubes, keep back 8 cubes which  you will roast in the oven for 20 minutes.  The remaining cubes you boil for about 15 minutes or until they are tender.  Once you have cooked the celeriac add some butter (cream if you just don't care!) and then add a teaspoon or two of wasabi to taste, you don't want it overpowering but you do want to taste it.
Stage 4 
The tempura.  The trick is the water.  You have to have this ice cold.  When i made this before I didn't have the water cold enough.  This time i put a container of water in the freezer. This must be done just before cooking. Sift 3oz plain flour and 1 tbsp cornflour with ½ tsp fine sea salt into a large mixing bowl. Then add 7fl oz ice-cold water along with a few ice cubes using a whisk, but don't over beat. Do not worry if its lumpy. (One recipe used sparkling water which I may try next time.)

Stage 5
Heat up oil in a wok or deep pan so that there is enough to cover the prawns and the cauliflower.  You won't be cooking enough to cool the oil but if you are doing this for 4 people make sure the oil remains hot by not putting too much in.  One thing I would do next time is use smaller florets and may be par boil and then dry and cool down in the fridge.  The prawns take no time at all and you really only need a minute or two but longer for the florets.
Stage 6
Plate up your masterpiece.  I put a dollop of purée in the middle and laid the pork next to it with the florets on one side and the prawns on the other with a dipping bowl on the slate (that's right, slate, how poncey is that!)

This was great fun to cook and wasn't that hard and will be refining this as i think it has potential to be a great dish