I’m fairly certain all avid cooks dream of the day they will receive their first piece of Le Creuset cookware or bakeware. Le Creuset products are also a staple on wedding registries. So when I was contacted to help spread the word that a Le Creuset store was opening in the King of Prussia Mall (outside Philadelphia) I absolutely wanted to get the word out. How exciting! I’m pretty pumped to visit it for the first time. The store is near the Macy’s; you can park and enter through the Orange Garage. (Address: 160 N Gulph Road • Suite C226A • King of Prussia, PA 19406)
To celebrate, the Le Creuset store hosted three separate events this past weekend, including bubbles bites with Yellow Springs Farm, a cooking demonstration with chef Ben Thomas, and sweet treats and coffee with Aux Petites Delices and La Colombe.
I was also sent a beautiful Rectangular Dish with Platter Lid, which is great for casseroles as well as for marinating in the dish and using the platter to serve.
To try it out, I decided to make a Filipino recipe I’ve been eyeing up for a while: Pork Belly Adobo. The recipe is pretty simple; you marinate the pork belly in a soy sauce marinade, brown the pork, and simmer in the marinade to finish cooking. But the result is fan-tas-tic.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 5 pounds boneless pork belly, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/3 cup white distilled vinegar
- Cooked white rice, for serving
Combine the soy sauce, garlic, sugar and peppercorns in a large bowl.
Cut the pork belly into 2 inch pieces.
Add to a rectangular casserole dish.
Pour the marinade over top, cover, and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. Flip the pork belly at least once to marinate thoroughly.
When ready to cook, heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add some of the pork belly pieces, making sure not to crowd the meat. Turn often to evenly brown on all sides, about 6 to 8 minutes per batch.
Remove the browned pork and set aside. Repeat with the remaining pork belly. Be sure to reserve the marinade in the casserole dish (you’ll use it later).
Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the Dutch oven. Add the garlic from the marinade and the onions to the Dutch oven. Cook until onions are translucent, about 10 to 12 minutes.
Add back in the pork, 1 cup water, and the bay leaves. Strain the reserved marinade into the Dutch oven (to remove the peppercorns).
Bring to a boil, cover, and cook for about 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The pork will reduce in size considerably.
Add the vinegar without stirring. Cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and skim off the fat (There will be a lot. Like a bowl’s worth. Pork belly is fatty.)
Allow the pork and sauce to sit 15 minutes before serving; the sauce will continue to thicken. To serve, spoon over rice.
The pork belly is fall apart tender and oh so buttery.
And the sauce? Incredible. It’s so simple to make the marinade, but it makes for one awesomely flavorful meal.
Also, how beautiful is that platter? This set is perfect for making and serving casseroles, frittatas, baked goods… the options are endless!
If you live in the Philly area, be sure to check out the new Le Creuset store. Just be prepared to want, oh, every single thing in the store 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 5 pounds boneless pork belly, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/3 cup white distilled vinegar
- Cooked white rice, for serving
Instructions
- Combine the soy sauce, garlic, sugar and peppercorns in a large bowl.
- Cut the pork belly into 2 inch pieces.
- Add to a rectangular casserole dish.
- Pour the marinade over top, cover, and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. Flip the pork belly at least once to marinate thoroughly.
- When ready to cook, heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add some of the pork belly pieces, making sure not to crowd the meat. Turn often to evenly brown on all sides, about 6 to 8 minutes per batch.
- Remove the browned pork and set aside. Repeat with the remaining pork belly. Be sure to reserve the marinade in the casserole dish (you’ll use it later).
- Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the Dutch oven. Add the garlic from the marinade and the onions to the Dutch oven. Cook until onions are translucent, about 10 to 12 minutes.
- Add back in the pork, 1 cup water, and the bay leaves. Strain the reserved marinade into the Dutch oven (to remove the peppercorns).
- Bring to a boil, cover, and cook for about 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The pork will reduce in size considerably.
- Add the vinegar without stirring. Cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and skim off the fat (There will be a lot. Like a bowl’s worth. Pork belly is fatty.)
- Allow the pork and sauce to sit 15 minutes before serving; the sauce will continue to thicken. To serve, spoon over rice.
I’ve made adobo before but with the vinegar in the meat from the beginning and it didn’t turn out well. I liked that this recipe it was added at the end and the amount of vinegar was the perfect amount.
Just checked your pork belly adobo recipe, a great Filipino dish. I frequently eat it and also started to make it myself. It’s quite simple to make but a great dish to serve! I add more peppercorns, like 15 corns, half of it crushed, the other half whole. Very important is not to strain the peppercorns from the marinade. Leave them in, they are not as strong in taste as they are fresh since much of the taste is in the sauce but they give a lovely bite