Moroccan Spiced Stewed Pork Belly in a Slow Cooker

Submitted by DoctorDave

"Not something you would find on a real Moroccan menu. I love pork belly and I love Moroccan spices so I decided to combine the two and the results were delicious! To save time I didn't make the Ras el Hanout this time - I had some that I bought (Moroccan Spice Melange by Moustaffa - a wonderful blend) - you can do as well for cheaper by blending and grinding your own."

 

• Ready In: 9hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 lbs pork belly
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced
• 4 small yellow onions, peeled and quartered
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1⁄2 inches fresh ginger, minced
• 1⁄2 cup dried mushroom (optional)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons ras el hanout spice mix
• 1 pinch saffron
• 1 teaspoon honey
• salt
• 1 tablespoon argan oil (this is very expensive and hard to find, you can use any other oil you like but if you can get your )
• 200 ml strained yoghurt (I use Fage 2 %)
• 1⁄2 cup strained tomatoes
• 1 cup white wine (or light red if you have that on hand) (optional)

directions

1. Heat oil in a deep cast iron skillet (or a cast iron dutch oven) over medium high heat. Cube the belly with skin on and salt the meat. Add meat to oil and brown on each side. Work in batches if your skillet is small - don't crowd the meat. Remove the meat from the skillet and set aside in a bowl.
2. Add diced onions to the skillet and fry in the oil until they are beginning to brown (ie past translucent but not burnt). Add ginger and garlic and stir up and fry for one more minute.
3. Add wine and stock and deglaze pan (scrape up the browned bits into the liquid). Add tomato, spices, safron, honey and salt. Taste for saltiness - do not undersalt. The liquid will not be flavorful or even tasty at this stage so only judge the salt. Add the yoghurt slowly and stir as you add (this prevents it from curdling). Reduce the liquid if it looks like a lot (if you reduce too much, no worries, you'll add back just the right amount of water in the next step).
4. Pour the liquid from the skillet into your slow cooker. Add the meat with any juices from the bowl into your slow cooker. Add the quartered small onions and the dried mushrooms. Add water to almost cover the meat and stir the liquid. Cook on low setting for 9 hours. I do all the prep the night before and then refrigerate the uncooked food in the insert until I'm ready to place it in the base the next morning and turn it on. When I get home I have a gorgeous fragrant meal.
5. Serve ladled over couscous and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.