4 – 6 servings
Start this fantastic treat the day before. Be sure to allow enough pork for second helpings for everybody!

6 – 8 portions pork belly strips
250 ml tomato sauce
250 ml soy sauce
100 – 125 ml clear honey
finely chopped fresh ginger and garlic cloves (30 ml)
100 ml medium sherry
15 ml sweet chili sauce
5 ml finely grounded star anise (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
15 ml olive oil

Trim the excess fat from the belly strips & make sure the rind is removed. Mix all other ingredients except olive oil in a large shallow dish. Add belly strips and coat well with the mixture. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight.

Next day, transfer pork and sauce into a heavy based cooking pot with a lid. Bring to a simmer and cook slowly over low heat, turning the pork every now and then, until the pork is quite tender. Remove from heat and allow the pork to cool in the marinade.

Once it has cooled off, the pork can be kept again in the fridge in the sauce until 20 – 30 minutes before mealtime. Remove pork from the sauce. Boil the sauce in a saucepan over high heat until it is syrupy and quite sticky. Arrange the pork belly strips on an oven rack,coat with a little oil and grill 5 minutes on each side. Turn frequently. After 5 minutes, start basting the pork with the sticky sauce while grilling.Be careful not to let it burn. Once it turns a delicious, golden colour and the pork is coated well with the sticky sauce, remove at once from the oven and serve. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fresh, warm bread rolls and a mixed salad compliments this tasty dish.

7 – 8 servings

Calculate approx. 250 g of pork per person when you buy the roast. A 2 kg leg of pork will therefore be enough for 7 – 8 people.

Get your butchery staff to score the skin for you. This makes beautiful, crisp crackling.

1 x leg of pork, approx 2 kg – 2,5 kg
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for rubbing
apple sauce for serving

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Pat the leg of pork dry with kitchen paper. Score the skin on 2 cm intervals if not done yet. (Cut through the skin and outside fat layer on top with a very sharp knife.) Rub with salt, pepper and olive oil. Place open on a wire rack in an oven-roasting tin.

Roast the leg for the required amount of time. Calculate as follows: for every 500 g, roast it for 30 minutes. At the end, add on 15 – 20 more minutes.

The skin on top should be golden brown and crisp. You can use the oven grill for a little while to help this process. (Watch it and don’t brown it too much.)

You can slice potatoes thickly and put them in the roasting pan underneath the pork. They’ll be roasted and coated with lovely meat juices at the same time.

When done, remove pork from oven and leave in a warm place to “rest” for 8 – 10 minutes. This “settles” the juices. Carve thinly against the grain. Serve with gravy, vegetables and apple sauce.

Serves 4 without vegetables
Serves 6 with vegetables

15 – 30 ml olive oil or other good quality oil
2 onions, sliced / chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 stem fresh ginger, chopped (optional)
15 ml curry powder
3 ml each dry coriander, fine cumin
& garam masala (optional)
1 kg fresh pork, cut into 2,5 cm cubes
20 ml apricot jam
salt and pepper to taste
10 ml sugar
20 lemon juice / vinegar
10 – 15 ml cornflour (Maizena)
125 ml plain yoghurt / Smetena
/ crème fraiche
handful chopped, fresh basil / coriander (optional)
Optional vegetables: 250 ml chopped green beans / green peas / chopped carrots / broccoli florets / cauliflower florets. Use at least 2 types of vegetables.

Heat oil and sauté onions, garlic & ginger until soft. Add curry powder & other spices and stir over medium heat until spices have absorbed all the oil. Remove from pan. Heat a little more oil and brown the pork cubes lightly. Add onion mixture, apricot jam, salt & pepper and approx 500 ml chicken stock or hot water.

Simmer over low heat until meat is quite soft. Add vegetables and simmer until vegetables are soft. Add sugar and lemon juice / vinegar. Season to taste.

Mix cornflour with cold water to form a paste. Add to curry and stir until the sauce thickens. Add yoghurt / Smetena / crème fraiche and remove from heat. Lastly, stir in the chopped basil or coriander. Serve with rice.

4 servings

4 pork chops or pork steaks trimmed of unwanted fat juice and grated rind of one lemon
1 tablespoon of wholegrain or French mustard olive oil
salt, pepper and garlic and herb seasoning
apple sauce to serve

Combine lemon juice, lemon rind, about 50 ml olive oil and mustard in a flat dish. Coat pork chops with this mixture and marinate 30 minutes on each side in the fridge. Remove steaks or chops from marinade, pat dry with kitchen paper and pan-fry in a tablespoon
of heated olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Keep the pan temperature medium hot – not smoking hot.Serve warm with apple sauce.

Great with mashed or baked potatoes and salad.

4 – 6 servings

450 – 500 g pork cubes, cut from the leg, shoulder or thick rib (2,5 cm cubes work best, very small cubes will shrink too much during grilling)
1 x bottle sticky rib marinade (available from any good supermarket)
125 ml dried peaches or apricots (the “soft eating” type works best)
2 – 3 onions, cut into quarters, or 8 – 10 small
onions
lemon or bay leaves (optional)
button mushrooms and pieces of green or red pepper (optional)
salt and pepper for seasoning
wooden skewers, soaked in water for at least 20 minutes

If necessary, trim any fat on the pork cubes to a very thin layer. Place pork cubes in a glass or ceramic dish and pour sticky rib marinade over to cover the meat. Stir through until all cubes are covered inmarinade. Add peaches/apricots, onions, mushrooms and pepper pieces, if used. Cover and marinate overnight or for at least 4 hours in the fridge.

Skewer pieces of pork alternately with onions, bay/lemon leaves and apricots, mushrooms and peppers onto the wooden skewers. Grill over medium-hot coals, not smoking hotcoals. Your end result will be much better and juicer if the pork kebabs are cooked slightly slowly, over a low heat. Very hot coals will givea dry end result and shrink the meat. Grill only until done, not overcooked. It is done when the inside of the pork cubes is light grey or white (similar to chicken) but still juicy. Baste frequently (using a kitchen brush) with any left-over marinade, and season with salt and pepper towards the end of the cooking period.

Serve hot with crisp breadrolls, couscous salad or a fresh green mixed salad. Pork kebabs can also be grilled very successfully in the oven

4 – 6 servings

Approx 750 g pork stir-fry strips
olive oil for frying or any other good quality cooking oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 each green & red sweet peppers, chopped
3 – 4 baby marrows, sliced
450 g sliced mushrooms
2 – 3 carrots, cut into thin strips
15 ml dry or medium dry sherry
15 ml balsamic vinegar
15 ml brown sugar
10 ml cornflour, mixed with a little cold water
15 – 40 ml soy sauce (use according to taste)
cooked noodles for serving

Pat the strips dry with kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a wok or pan and fry the pork strips until golden brown, but not dry. Remove and keep warm. Stir-fry all the vegetables until cooked, but still fairly crisp. Return pork strips to pan and add the sherry, vinegar, brown sugar and cornflour paste.

Season with soy sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot with noodles.