Pork Belly

D. has been bugging me to prepare a nice beef curry, as it's been a while since we've had one. So I grabbed the ingredients on the way home from work. Curry is much better the next day, so we decided that D. would cook something quick, and I'd get started on the curry after we'd eaten. I got D. some pork belly and pickled mustard leaf, and she made a delicious soup (with the aforementioned ingredients, plus some sweet carrots which both balance the flavour of the stock and add texture). We ate this with steamed rice, stir-fried gai lan (with garlic and oyster sauce), and stewed pork and cucumber (to use up the remaining pork belly). Delicious.

The curry is simple, and I cheat by using a jar of vindaloo sauce. Cubes of beef are double-browned to get that delicious barbequed flavour. Diced onion is added, and, when they've softened, carrots and celery. Next is roasted garlic. I chop two heads of garlic in half and roast them in the oven until they start to brown, which makes the cloves easy to get out of their skin. Finally, a tin of tomatoes is added along with a few tablespoons of the vindaloo sauce. This is simmered for a few hours and left out overnight to fester, then refrigerated in the morning to be cooked again tonight. Should be delicious with some chutney and beer!