Sous Vide Babi Chin - Fragrant Nonya Pork Belly

Babi Chin is a favorite dish in Nonya cuisine, which was fusion before the term was even coined. It represents a blend of Chinese, Malay, and other Southeast Asian flavors, and this delicious dish of braised pork belly is perfect for sous vide! This method gives the exotic flavors a wonderful opportunity to infuse the meat, and the dish sauce is simply made from reducing the bag juices at the end of cooking. Enjoy with simple white rice or crusty French bread!

Author

Nicole Poirier

Chef Nicole is our Content Development Chef at Anova Culinary, devoted to help making your sous vide recipe dreams come true and writing informative blog posts to aid you along the way. She attended culinary school at Ecole Ritz-Escoffier at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France and worked as a restaurant chef in Rhode Island before becoming an award-winning international yacht chef. Chef Nicole has worked alongside Anova Culinary since our Kickstarter in 2014 and officially joined the team in November, 2016. She has a specialty private event and catering business and and enjoys teaching cooking to clients throughout the Bay Area.

Prep Time: 00:10

Recipe Time: 07:15

Temperature : 176F / 80C

Ingredients

• 1 lb/450 g pork belly
• 1/4 c chopped shallots
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/2 Tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 star anise
• 4 large dried shiitake or porcini mushrooms
• 2 Tablespoons tamari/dark soy sauce/coconut aminos
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar/coconut sugar/granulated sugar/honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Directions

1. Set your Anova to 176ºF/80ºC
2. Chop your pork belly into neat 1"/2.5 cm cubes. This can be easier if you put the belly into the freezer for 10 minutes to harden up slightly.
3. Gather all of your ingredients.
4. For extra coriander flavor, use a mortar and pestle to gently crush the seeds. This is not necessary to get delicious results.
5. Combine all ingredients in your bag of choice.
6. Squeeze out the air and agitate ingredients to ensure equal coating.
7. Place bag in the water bath and set timer for at least 7 hours.

Finishing Steps

1. Remove bag from bath and transfer the solids within to a serving dish. Discard the star anise.
2. Tip the contents of the bag into a small pan and reduce by 3/4 over medium heat.
3. Pour reduced pan sauce over pork belly and serve. Enjoy!