Daikon and Kimchi Braised Pork Belly Spice Curry, made with SN1

The savoury depth of pork and kimchi soaking right through the daikon. Deep in flavour, yet fresh with a sharp edge 🍛.

SPICE CURRY SPICE PACK (Spice Curry Spice Pack) Symphony No.1 (SN1) — a daikon and kimchi braised pork belly spice curry.

Pork and daikon. Daikon and kimchi. Kimchi and pork. Everyone knows how well those pairs work. Add spices and the depth grows considerably. There are two points to this recipe.

• Parboil the daikon properly, to draw out its flavour and that texture that dissolves on the tongue.
• Finish the pork tender and plump

Now, to the recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• SN1 / starter spices (the whole-spice sachet): 1 sachet
• SN1 / powder spices (the ground-spice sachet): 1 sachet
• Tinned tomatoes: 1 tin (400g)
• Onion: 1
• Daikon: about 1/4 of one
• Garlic (grated): 2 tsp (1–2 cloves)
• Ginger (grated): 1 tbsp
• Pork belly, in a piece: 300g
• Kimchi: 80g
• Nam pla (Thai fish sauce): 1 tbsp
• Soy sauce: 1 tbsp
• Yoghurt (unsweetened): 1 tbsp
• Sugar: 1 tbsp
• Salt: 1 tsp
• Oil: 3 tbsp (use whichever oil you like. For this recipe we recommend light sesame oil)
• Water: 200ml
  
  

Preparation

• Grate the garlic, then the ginger, in that order
  
  
• Cut the onion (in this recipe: halve it, halve it again, then slice)
  
  
  
  
  
• Cut the pork belly into bite-sized pieces. Work the nam pla: 1 tbsp, soy sauce: 1 tbsp, yoghurt: 1 tbsp and the grated ginger into the cut pork.
  
  
• Splitting the cardamom in the starter spices (the whole-spice sachet) lengthways with scissors or a knife lifts the aroma
  
  

Parboiling the daikon

Start the daikon before you begin the spice curry. It needs about 15 minutes of simmering, so it works well to get on with the curry while it cooks.

1. Peel the daikon and cut it into quarter-rounds.
2. Put 600ml of water and 1 tsp of salt (not in the list above) into a pan and add the daikon.
3. Bring it to the boil over a high heat, then turn it down to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.
4. Push a cocktail stick into the daikon; when it goes in easily, tip it into a colander and drain it thoroughly.

Any water left behind will make the sauce watery, so be sure to drain it well.

Method

1. Put the “oil: 3 tbsp” into a pan over a low heat, and once the oil is warm, add the starter spices (the whole-spice sachet).
   
   
   
   
2. When you hear the “mustard seeds (the small black ones)” start to crackle, add the grated garlic and fry for about 30 seconds, stirring it through the spices.
   
   
   
   
3. Add the onion, stir it thoroughly through the spices, then turn the heat to high and cook it properly until it is deep golden brown.
   
   
   
   

   How far you cook the onion changes the finished flavour enormously. When a curry comes out watery, or the tomato tastes too sharp, or the depth feels thin, the single biggest cause is moving on to the next step before the onion has turned deep golden brown. For this recipe, always cook the onion for 12–15 minutes, frying it properly until it is deep golden brown. The points to watch are Keep the heat at medium to high Spread the onion evenly across the pan and leave it, then stir; spread it evenly and leave it, then stir; and repeat When you stir and feel the onion catching on the base of the pan, add a splash of water, often (in our experience, about 2 tbsp of water at a time, roughly five times in all) That splash of water carries the savoury depth released by the cooking through the whole pan, and lets you reach deep golden onions without burning them. Letting it catch slightly and then adding water actually draws out more of that depth. It takes a little time and attention, but it is the step that decides the flavour, so give it the time it needs.

   
   
   
4. Once the onion is deep golden brown (below is after about 12 minutes of cooking), turn the heat to medium and add the pork.
   
   
   
   

   As a guide, the pork is done when the pink has gone from all of it. Take care not to cook it too long over medium heat here, or the meat in the curry will be tough.

   
   
   
5. Once you are sure the pork is cooked through, add about 2/3 of the powder spices and stir them in, thinking of it as cooking the powder spices themselves.
   
   
6. Keeping the heat at medium, push the ingredients to one side, add the tinned tomatoes, crush the whole tomatoes down well, then add the “kimchi: 80g” and stir everything together.
   
   
7. Add the sugar: 1 tbsp, salt: 1 tsp and water: 200ml, and stir it in.
   
   
8. Bring it to the boil, then turn the heat to low, stir in the parboiled daikon and the remaining powder spices, and simmer for 5 minutes.
   
   
9. Taste it at the end and adjust the salt. (We recommend making that final adjustment with soy sauce.)
   
   

And that is it.

More kimchi, or a sharp beni-daikon (red daikon) achar alongside, is excellent too. For anyone who loves that sharpness, this is the plate.

Serve it with whatever you like 🍛

Buy the spice packs here

Inspice spice curry spice sets contain none of the usual sources of heat — chilli, cayenne pepper or chilli powder — so please add heat to your own taste.