Shiitake Mushroom Caps with Rendered Pork Belly

Ingredients:
250 grams pork belly, cubed
500 grams fresh shiitake mushroom caps, cleaned and quartered (keep stems on)
2 pieces small shallots, halved and sliced lengthwise
1 medium tomato, diced
4 small stalks of scallions, trimmed cut into 1 inch lengths
1 jalapeno pepper, julienned
a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, stemmed
2 cups water, separated into 2 portions
6 tablespoons soy sauce
sea salt and cracked black pepper, as desired

Instructions:

Simmer pork belly cubes in 1 cup water, season with salt and pepper and simmer over medium high heat in covered pan until the fat is rendered. Brown pork cubes, remove from pan , drain fat and set aside.

Use 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat and saute, the shallots, tomatoes, jalapeno pepper and scallions. Stir and saute for 3-5 minutes, add mushrooms and pork cubes. Add the remaining water and soy sauce. Simmer for 10 -15 minutes, add water as desired to keep the mushroom simmering until just tender. Sprinkle with black pepper and adjust salt, as desired.

Serve over steamed white rice and garnish with cilantro or flat leaf color and contrasting flavor. I paired it with an inexpensive tempranillo with cherry and plum notes, and it worked quite well. With that, supper was served, to a party of one, moi! I had enough left over for one generous serving or two smaller ones, so it may end up on the lunch box sometime during the week. Sorry for not indicating the servings in the previous posts.