Coconut Noodles with Honey Glazed Pork Belly : An International Incident

I was really excited about this month's theme for the International Incident. It is Noodles!  This month I really wanted to cook something I would have never tried if it wasn't for this challenge.  I also wanted to try something a little different.

I decided to replicate a dish I had at Fenix in Richmond, Victoria from memory.  Fenix has since changed from a fine dining restaurant to a Wedding and Function centre.  It is owned by Raymond Capaldi and Gary Mehigan (from Masterchef Australia).  When it was a restaurant, Hubby and I used dine there often.  In fact, it was Hubby's favourite restaurant.

My favourite entree dish that I always had was the coconut noodles with caramalised pork belly in a Laksa style sauce.  This is the dish I made for the Noodles Party.

The first part of the dish was to make the coconut noodles.  It basically is coconut milk and agar agar.

agar agar

Coconut Jelly 

400ml can coconut milk

200ml water

50g agar agar strands

Place all the ingredinets in a pot on medium heat

Stir constantly till agar agar dissolves

Pour through a sieve into a dish

Refrigerate until set

When the coconut jelly is set, cut into into long noodles

The dish is served with pork belly.  I used a honey glaze on my pork belly. 

honey glazed pork belly

Honey Glaze:

1/2 cup honey

2 tbl dark soy sauce

1 tsp five spice powder

1 tsp ground ginger

Place all the ingredients in a small pot and cook over a low heat for 5-7 minutes.  Strain and reserve until needed.

800g pork belly

6 cups hot chicken stock

2 medium onions quartered

Placed the pork belly in a large pot or casserole dish and pour over the hot chicken stock and add the onions.  Place in the oven covered and cook for 2-3 hours or until the pork is tender.

Once the pork is cooked, remove from the oven and place on a baking tray with another tray on top and a weight (for example, 2 cans of beans) to help weigh down the pork.  Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours.  Overnight is preferable.

Preheat the oven to 180degC

Once the pork has been pressed, remove the trays and cut into portions about 5cm wide.  Place the pork skinn side down in a cold, non-stick pan with a little olive oil and begin to crisp the skin over a low-medium heat.  Spoon half of the honey glaze over the pork.

Place the pan into the hot oven and colour all the sides of the pork, spooning over the rest of the honey glazw.  Keep a close eye on the pork as it can burn easily.

Once it's coloured and crispy, remove fro  the oven, cut in small slices and set aside till ready to use in the dish.

Laksa Style Sauce:

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp ground almond

1 lemongrass stalked finely sliced

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp tumeric

2 tsp ground coriander

Place all ingredients in a mortar and pestle and pound until it forms into a paste.  Vegetable oil may be needed to blend easier.

To make the sauce, place tthe paste in a small pan and sauté gently until fragrant.  Add 250ml coconut milk.  Simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes

 To dish up, place the coconut noodles in a circle in a bowl, place the pork belly scattered around.  Pour a little of the laksa sauce into the bowl.  To garnish, add blanched snow peas and finely sliced chilli.

Fellow Party People:

• Penny – Jeroxie (Addictive & Consuming) – Homemade ban mian with minced pork and mushrooms
• Christine – Christine’s Recipes – Spicy Pork Mince and Noodles in Crisp Lettuce Cups
• Mardi – Eat, Live, Travel, Write – Ginger scallion & Butter noodles
• Conor - Hold the Beef – As Above
• Shirley – Enriching your kid – Vermicilli Biryani with Tahini
• Natasha – 5 Star Foodie – Homemade Soba Noodles
• Anges – Off the spork – Handpulled noodles at home
• Joanne – Second Helpin
• Tracey - Tangled Noodle
• Evelyne - Cheap Ethnic Eatz – Incidental Noodles
• Ms Baklover - Footscray Food Blog – Zha Jiang Mian
• Casey – Eating, Gardening & Living in Bulgari
• Tamar – Koreanfornian Cooking – Tteokbokki
• Billy – Half-Eaten – Pumpkin Miso Noodles in Shitake Dashi Broth
• Nina – Consumed Food Love – Vietnamese Noodle Salad
• Suresh – 3 hungry tummies – Twice cooked pork with rice noodles
• Anh – A food Lover’s Journey – Taco Soba Noodle

 Bon Appetite,
Cherrie