Pork belly braised in cola comes out meltingly tender, deep mahogany in color and coated in a glossy sauce. The savory sweet balance makes it disappear fast alongside plain white rice. The hardest part is the heat at the end, since the sauce reduces quickly and can scorch.
A bare simmer with the lid off is the core technique, because slow evaporation is what thickens the sauce while the meat stays soft. The common mistake is cranking the heat to reduce faster, which burns the bottom of the pot before the meat turns tender.
This batch weighs about 912g, at roughly 299 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse 500g of pork belly and cut it into bite sized cubes.
Marinate the pork with 10ml of fish sauce, 9g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 5g of minced shallot, 5g of minced garlic and 1g of ground pepper, then rest it for 15 minutes.
Heat 10ml of cooking oil in a pot and fry the remaining 5g of shallot and 5g of garlic until fragrant.
Add the marinated pork and stir quickly over medium heat until the surface firms up and some fat renders out.
Pour in 330ml of sugar free cola and the remaining 30ml of fish sauce, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for 30 to 40 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens, the meat is tender and the color turns deep mahogany.
Adjust the seasoning, turn off the heat and sprinkle over the remaining 2g of ground pepper. Spoon into a bowl, ladle the sauce over and serve hot with white rice and boiled greens.
Tips
Pork belly with even layers of lean and fat stays moist and never turns stringy through the braise.
Stirring the meat until it firms and renders some fat before the liquid goes in keeps the sauce clear and fragrant.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend is a powder, so it can be sprinkled straight into the marinade with no caramel to cook first.
For a darker mahogany finish, braise 5 minutes longer on the lowest heat and keep turning the pieces.
Resting the pork in the pot for 10 minutes after braising lets each piece soak up much more sauce.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.