My maiden attempt at Lu rou

There appear to be as many recipes for braised pork belly as there are people posting them. Check 10 recipes and you get 10 variations, usually on the theme of "it was my grandmothers recipe which she trotted out for family gatherings". Both Mw's dad and my mum were no help either. Being very vague about quantities and such.

So as usual I went my own way and I must say its not bad. Not tip top but palatable enough for guests especially the eggs. The meat was very tender and the eggs were very flavorful. The sauce was however a bit disappointing to my mind.

I had the star anise and the cinnamon stick. Since 5 spice powder has fennel, I took some fennel seeds and ground them in a mortar with peppercorns. I took a guess at the proportion of dark soya sauce to water as 1 tbsp per cup of water. I also browned the meat - seemed logical - I do it for my western stews. Lastly after the initial boiling I simmered the braise very slowly at about 90 to 100 degrees c in my oven for 3.5 hours.