Braised shaoxing pork belly with greens

This is a really simple, delicious way to put a meal on the table if you have some pork belly or pork belly slices in the fridge – most of the other ingredients are things you're likely to have in your cupboards, with the exception perhaps of Shaoxing wine.

Shaoxing is a fermented rice wine – it's the cornerstone of a lot of Chinese cooking, but certainly not as ubiquitous as something like soy sauce in the UK. Different Shaoxing's can have quite different flavour profiles, but the majority of the easily available wines in the UK lend a mellow sweetness to dishes – one that works perfectly with fatty pork belly.

The beauty of braising pork belly in this way is two-fold – you get a beautiful soft, melting texture from the meat, but it also renders lots of pork fat into the liquid, and that gelatine gives the final broth a really luscious texture that coats your noodles.

Feel free to mix up the vegetables to your tastes, we like something with a bit of crunch and something leafy, but you can really use anything you like!