Recipe - Sichuan Braised Pork Shoulder
with Ginger Bok Choy and Orange Scented Jasmine Rice
Courtesy of Baan Rim Pa Restaurant Group
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 425 gm local pork shoulder, cut into two equal portions
- 1 cup Shaoxing wine
- 2 cups chicken or beef stock
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- ¼ cinnamon stick
- 2 cloves star anise
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp sichuan peppercorns
- 2 tsp black peppercorns
- ½ seeded large dry chili
- 2 leek stalks
- ½ carrot diced
- 1 onion diced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 2 cardamom seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1 capful white wine vinegar
Preparation: Preheat oven to 295 degrees. In a rondeau or deep pan, brown the portions of pork on all sides until fully caramelized. Remove from pan and set aside. In the same pan, add the leeks, diced onion and carrot, and sauté until soft. Then add all the remaining ingredients. Pork should be half covered with the liquid. Cover and cook in the oven for four hours or until tender. Remove the meat and strain the remaining liquid to make the sauce. Reduce if necessary.
Ginger Bok Choy
Ingredients
- 200 gm baby bok choy
- 1 chopped shallot
- 1 chopped garlic clove
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 2 tsp chicken stock
Preparation: Sauté shallot, garlic and ginger until translucent. Add Bok Choy and then the chicken stock. Steam the Bok Choy in a pan for about two minutes.
Orange Scented Jasmine Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 1 tsp Sunquist orange zest (peel)
Preparation: Steam the rice and just before serving, combine with your orange zest.
To Serve
Place the Ginger Bok Choy on the plate, top with the rice and
then the pork. Spoon your sauce over all, and garnish with a
pinch of orange zest.
About Chef Aaron Hooper
At the 2008 HAPA (Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards) renowned Chef Aaron received the award of ‘Top Chef in Thailand’. He was born and raised in Oregon, on the west coast of America. Early in his culinary career, he worked in Switzerland under famous French Chef Fabrice Stephany. In 2000, Aaron attended the esteemed New England Culinary Institute, earning an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts, and graduating at the top of his class. He then joined the Wolfgang Puck partnered restaurant, Hawthorn Lane – one of the top five restaurants in San Fransisco.
Well versed in classic French, Italian, Asian and Californian cuisines, Aaron focuses on using only the very freshest ingredients to prepare stunning, honest, culinary works of art. He moved to Thailand and opened the well-reviewed Tiramisu in Bangkok for his friend and Master Chef cum Restaurateur, Pino Spinoso. He then moved to Watermark in Phuket where again his menus received great reviews.
After a brief consulting stint in Shanghai, China, Aaron returned to Phuket to join the Baan Rim Pa Group as executive chef at Da Maurizio Bar Ristorante and, soon thereafter, Joe's Downstairs and also Hung Fat’s. His light, fresh cuisine has been well received and he’s proved a tremendous asset to the Baan Rim Pa Group.