Braised pork with star anise and ginger

[achookwoman]

Braised Pork with Star Anise and Ginger.
This dish has a beautiful flavorsome gravy. It can be served with rice and a green vegetable. It also can be served with steamed pumpkin or carrot. Any cut of pork can be used, I used leg but shoulder would be good. The cooking time will depend on the cut of pork. I think that the longer cooking time for the leg helped develop the flavor.

Serves 6, but could be extended to 8 depending on the vegetables served with the pork.

Ingredients

850g pork, cut into 4 cm cubes.
1 tablespoon of oil
2 tablespoons of fresh ginger
2 large cloves of garlic.
1/2 large onion. 1/2 cup chicken stock
80mls of dry sherry
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of honey
4 star anise

DO All cooked with cup out.

Drop garlic, ginger and onion on the rotating blades, speed 5 for 7 seconds, scrape down.Add star Anise.
Add oil and cook for 10 mins./100/ speed 2.
Add cubed pork,cook on REVERSE 10 mins/ 100./speed 1
Add stock ,sherry, honey and soy sauce.
Cook 20 mins/100/ speed 1/REVERSE.
Test for tenderness.May need extra time depending on cut. Mine needed extra 30 mins

Optional
When cooked, add 1/3 cup of fresh coriander
Salt and pepper to taste
6 green spring onions cut on the diagonal

members' comments

CC - I made this yesterday so I had only to reheat it tonight for our supper. It really is very flavoursome and DH and DS loved it. I used pork shoulder, cooking it an extra 20 minutes. Served it with rice and peas. The only drawback, my star anise broke into pieces and took a time to fish the bits out. Thanks Chookie, a wonderful recipe.

JulieO - For the stock I used water and 2 tsp of Tenina's stock granules and also light soy to cut down on the salt. As I used pork scotch fillet, it cooked in the time stated and didn't need any extra cooking time, therefore my sauce was quite thin.  I removed the meat and added a little cornflour and cooked for a few mins to thicken which did the trick.  I have noticed that my sauce was much lighter in colour and looks insipid compared to yours Chookie but it tasted really nice. I had some rice frozen so didn't even need to make that today and also didn't add any pumpkin which would have been a lovely accompaniment.

VieveMS - The flavours were really nice but even after cooking for an extra 10-15 minutes the gravy was still very thin.  I hate adding corn flour to thicken sauces but did this anyway so the gravy would 'grab' the meat a little.  I also added some green beans for a bit of colour. 
If I was to make this dish again I'd probably need to do a bit of tweaking (not quite sure what at this stage though).

[judydawn]

This sounds really nice Chookie, any picture to follow?

[achookwoman]

This sounds really nice Chookie, any picture to follow?

Tomorrow, Judy.

[cecilia]

Congratulations on another delicious-looking dish, Chookie. 

[achookwoman]

Have added photos and removed Star Anise from finished dish.

[judydawn]

Thanks Chookie, looks very tasty - what are you serving it with?  Love your serving dish.

[JulieO]

It does look/sound tasty.  I've saved this one to try.  Love your copper serving dish too Chookie. 

[Cornish Cream]

I made this yesterday so I had only to reheat it tonight for our supper.It really is very flavoursome and DH and DS loved it.I used pork shoulder,cooking it an extra 20 minutes.Served it with rice and(don't tell Maddy ) peas.The only drawback,my star anise broke into pieces and took a time to fish the bits out
Thanks Chookie,a wonderful recipe

[JulieO]

I made this almost immediately that we got home today.  We were hungry and I have a headache and so didn't want to have to spend too much time faffing about in the kitchen, so this is what I made.

For the stock I used water and 2 tsp of Tenina's stock granules and also light soy to cut down on the salt. As I used pork scotch fillet, it cooked in the time stated and didn't need any extra cooking time, therefore my sauce was quite thin.  I removed the meat and added a little cornflour and cooked for a few mins to thicken which did the trick.  I have noticed that my sauce was much lighter in colour and looks insipid compared to yours Chookie but it tasted really nice.  

I had some rice frozen so didn't even need to make that today and also didn't add any pumpkin which would have been a lovely accompanyment.

Really enjoyed it Chookie, I'm hoping it will get rid of my headache.

[achookwoman]

Julie,  hope you have got rid of the headache.   I think the longer cooking time makes for a darker sauce.  I had a little over so zapped it in the TMX and made a filling for some Chinese pork buns.

[VieveMS]

I made this tonight although unfortunately it looked nothing like Chookie's photos.  The flavours were really nice but even after cooking for an extra 10-15 minutes the gravy was still very thin.  I hate adding corn flour to thicken sauces but did this anyway so the gravy would 'grab' the meat a little.  I also added some green beans for a bit of colour. 

If I was to make this dish again I'd probably need to do a bit of tweaking (not quite sure what at this stage though).