Claypot Caramelized Slowcook Pork Belly

I will never forget the yummiest dish I fell in-love with during my junior high school days. Back then, I had a a couple of interesting years where I lived with my cousins during the weekdays and coming home on the weekends. One of the girl cousins was married, and the other was one year older than me - who I shared a room with and walk to school with everyday. My cousin-in-law (male) can cook the meanest clay pot pork ever! My mouth watered every time I thought about his pot of slow cooked caramelized pork belly. I can still remember my addiction to the taste - and the guilt of eating 3/4 of the pot - but I just couldn't help myself. "oink-oink"
If you ever had great fall-off- the bones ribs - it's almost like that. But more eccentric than that - these slow cooked, caramelized fatty pork belly chunks {but not so much after it's been cooked for hours} were tantalizing. The taste is completely satisfying when you pair white rice with the slow cooked caramelized pork belly. The days my cousin cooked this dish, I couldn't help but became greedy / or miss piggy.  I couldn't stop at one bowl of rice and meat. If I didn't feel so bad eating his food already, I would have eaten the whole pot even if if takes five bowls of rice. I don't know if it's because I was so hungry after school or was it just plain delicious.

I ordered this dish at a restaurant called Chive Garlic in Westminster on our Southern California trip. There is no comparison to my cousin's cooking, but it brought back the memories of the yummy taste and satisfactory feeling of eating such amazing food.

So last week was my first attempt to make this mouth watering slow-cooked pork belly dish with no clay pot. I used  one of my heavy duty Calphalon pots and cooked until I can't see the fat on the meat anymore. See below for what it looks like and imagine eating the pork with this white delicious rice. Yum-Yum mouth watering!

Ingredients 2 lbs pork belly chunks 1 TLB of minced garlic 3 thinly sliced shallot bulbs 1 TLB cooking oil 2 TLB brown sugar 1 TLP sweet soy sauce 2 tsps black pepper 2 tsps salt 1 TLB sugar 2 tsps chili flakes (optional) 1/2 cup chopped green onions

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Preparation

1. Wash and rinse the pork belly strip. Pat dry and into bit size pieces. (I didn't want the fat, so I cut the third thread off - and threw it away.  I rather have a little taste of goodness, than suffer with blocked arteries from the fat. I prefer to be humble and have a little of the goodness.)
2. In a large non-stick skillet/wok under high heat, add in pork belly and cook until they’re slightly brown about 10-12 minutes.
3. Next add in 1 Tbsp of minced garlic and cook to a nice golden brown color.
4. Then remove the cooked pork belly to a plate and set aside until needed.
5. In a clean non-stick skillet/wok under high heat, add in 1 Tbsp of cooking oil and 3 thinly sliced shallot bulbs fry until golden brown.
6. Add in your cooked pork belly and cook for 4 minutes.
7. After 4 minutes, add in 1 Tbsp of sweet soy sauce, 2 tsps of chili flakes (optional), 2 tsps of black pepper, 2 tsps of salt, 1 Tbsp of sugar, and combine well. Continue cooking for 5 minutes or until caramelize.
8. Turn off heat and add in 1/2 cup of chopped green onions and enjoy!