KUNG PAO SMOKED PORK BELLY
Original recipe and photo credit goes to TheBBQBuddha.
A few weeks ago I posted a recipe for Pork Belly Burnt Ends, which is just cubed pork belly, smoked, and cooked in BBQ sauce. For this recipe, I combined the low and slow method of pork belly burnt ends with the sauce from the Kung Pao Chicken recipe all on my Big Green Egg. Now sit back, grab a nice glass of Reisling, and enjoy this post for Kung Pao Smoked Pork Belly.
INGREDIENTS
- 1½ pounds pork belly (cubed)
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry, if unavailable)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅓ cup peanut oil
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns toasted in hot skillet for 30 seconds until fragrant, ground using mortar and pestle
- 3 scallions, whites finely minced, and greens finely sliced, reserved separately
- ½ cup roasted unsalted peanuts
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar (or distilled white vinegar if unavailable)
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan fermented chili-bean paste (or generic Asian chili-garlic sauce if unavailable)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 12 hot Chinese dry chili peppers, seeded
- 2 small leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into ¼-inch slices (about ½ cup total)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cube the pork belly into 1" pieces
- Cover with a base (I used mustard) and season with Salt and Pepper
- Set your smoker to 275° using Hickory for the smoking wood
- Set your pork belly inside the smoker on a wire rack for 3 hours or until they measure 190°
- You can spray the pork belly every hour with apple juice to keep moist
- After 3 hours (or 190°) pull the pork belly and set aside
- Mix the Soy sauce, Vinegar, Cornstarch, and chili bean paste together
- Saute' the leeks, green onion bottoms (white parts), garlic, and ginger in peanut oil until fragrant
- Put pork belly in aluminum pan and cover with aromatics and sauce
- Cover and place back in your smoker for 30-60 minutes (or until the sauce thickens
- Toss everything with the Sichuan peppercorns, tops of green onions, and peanuts
- Serve over rice or noodles