Taiwanese braised pork belly over rice

Cut the pork belly into 1/3 inch thick slabs, then slice the slabs into 1/3 inch pieces; keep the skin on.

Preheat a clay pot a couple of minutes until hot and add all the pork with no oil, stirring; liquid releases and then evaporates.

Turn to medium low and keep stirring as the fat renders out and the bottom goes sticky and brown from the Maillard reaction; 15 to 20 minutes in all.

Turn off the heat, tilt the pot and remove about a third of a cup of the rendered fat to a small sauce pot to fry the shallots later; do not render out every drop.

Back on medium, add 8 cloves garlic, 8 slices ginger, 1 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 bay leaves and a third of a cup of rock sugar, stirring until the aromatics are fragrant.

Add 7 tablespoons light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, 1 cup Chinese cooking wine, 1 teaspoon white pepper and 1 teaspoon five spice powder; stir and scrape the bottom to deglaze.

Pour in 2 to 4 cups of hot water and simmer on low for one and a half hours, topping up with hot water if it reduces too far.

Discard the tops and roots of six shallots, halve, peel and slice them thinly.

Fry the shallots in the reserved pork fat over medium-low, stirring constantly and lifting them to check the colour; it gets foamy.

Soak three dried shrimp in hot water until soft and mince them.

When the shallots are slightly golden add the minced shrimp and fry on low a few minutes more until golden brown, about 15 minutes in all; strain through a sieve and keep the flavoured oil.

After the pork has simmered about 25 minutes, add all the fried shallots and let it cook for the rest of the time.

Skim the fat off the top and pick out the spices; reduce if the sauce is too thin, add water if too thick, and taste to adjust.

Scoop the meat over white rice, add baby bok choy and a boiled egg and garnish with diced scallion.