Dear Reader,

Earlier in the week, I made this dish and posted the photo in the Facebook group, “Cooking meals for one“. One of the members, viz., Merryn, suggested I write a post on Yummy Lummy. 

I am happy to do this; it makes me giggle though that I’ll not be able to share the post on Facebook because the good people of Facebook have banned Yummy Lummy for breaching its community standards.

I’ve tried to appeal this decision but to no avail. I don’t know what component of the Facebook community standards I breached. Maybe the good people of Facebook don’t like my take on fusion cuisine. Perhaps they didn’t like the videos I used to make and post. 

Anyway, there is nothing to be gained by crying over spilled milk. Not to worry, it is what it is, and the way I see it, it’s the good people of Facebook who are missing out!

I used a pressure cooker to cook the pork belly. You could also use a slow cooker.

Ingredients

• Pork belly strips cut into rough cubes
• Star anise (1 star)
• Black whole peppercorns (1 tablespoon)
• Onion shallot (1)
• Vegetable stock (1 cup)
• Sweet sherry (1 cup)
• Barbecue sauce (1 vigorous squirt)
• Chinese five-spice (1 tablespoon)
• Bay leaves (2 or 3 leaves)
• Potato (1 cut in half)
• Capsicum (I used yellow, green, and red capsicum for colour)
• 2-minute noodles
• Neutral oil (I used rice bran oil)

Instructions

1. Sharpen your cook’s knife and ponder as always Proverbs 27:17 (As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.)
2. With long, firm strokes drawing the blade of your knife towards you (yes, this sounds counterintuitive, but it’s the most efficient way to cut pork belly strips), slice through the meat.
3. Place the meat into the pressure cooker vessel.
4. Peel the onion shallot, cut it along a sagittal plane, and cut each half again along a sagittal plane. Separate the layers and put them into the pressure cooker vessel.
5. Add the star anise, peppercorns, sherry, stock, barbecue sauce, Chinese five-spice, bay leaves, and potato to the meat and onion.
6. Inspect the lid of your pressure cooker to make sure the gasket is in place. If you don’t clean as you cook, look for foreign debris and remove it. The point of this step is to avoid a pressure leak. The other reason is to prevent a potentially fatal outcome if the escape valve is blocked and the pressure cooker becomes a bomb. Check out what happened at the Boston Marathon a few years ago when a pressure cooker bomb exploded. The carnage was extensive. Don’t be put off by this advice. Pressure cookers are safe if you maintain them correctly.
7. Put the lid on and seal it closed.
8. Turn on the heat, achieve cooking pressure, and cook for between 40 and 45 minutes.
9. Allow the pressure to equilibrium to atmospheric pressure.
10. Remove the lid.
11. Pick out the pork belly and potato with tongues. You could use your fingers, but I reckon you’ll burn the skin, and the pain will be most unpleasant.
12. Strain the liquor to remove the solid material. Yes, liquor is the correct word. If you doubt me, look up a good English language dictionary.
13. Pour the liquor into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.
14. Add the instant noodles to the boiling liquor and cook for 2 minutes.
15. Strain off the liquor and allow the noodles to drain for a few minutes.
16. Heat a wok or a skillet and add some neutral oil. Heat the oil until it’s near its smoking point, and then add in the noodles and the slices of capsicum.
17. Stir fry the noodles and capsicum until the noodles start to take on some colour.
18. The noodles should have changed from limp to firm, and the capsicum should have changed from firm to a little soft but not limp. You don’t want limp capsicum, and you certainly do not desire capsicum, which has lost its vibrancy.
19. Move the fried noodles and capsicum to a shallow bowl, and with cooking forceps (or fingers), take the capsicum and bring it to the top of the noodles to show it off better.
20. Add some of the pieces of cooked belly pork to finish the presentation.
21. Thank God for wages to buy food, and thank Him for the skills to prepare and cook food.

Final thoughts

• Have you experienced problems with a pressure cooker?
• Are you afraid of using a pressure cooker?
• Do you like pork belly?
• What do you think of this dish?
• How do you feel about Facebook banning Yummy Lummy?

What’s with the bible verses and the mention of prayers?

I realise I’ve lost a few subscribers because I’ve outed myself (this seems to be the terminology used these days to reveal personal change or orientation or identity). At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a friend shepherded me back to faith after nearly two decades of life in the wilderness. 

Yummy Lummy is still a food blog, but you’ll read about the real me.

If the bible verses, mention of prayer, or the books I’ve been reading cause you to unsubscribe, I don’t mind.