Pan-Roasted Pork Neck with Sweet & Sour Thai Sauce

No oven is needed to cook pork neck? That’s right! This method used by BigBoy only requires a skillet. By using the slow-cooking principle, you can achieve juicy and tasty pork neck just as well.

The secret to keeping the pork neck tender and juicy lies in continuously brushing the sauce onto the surface of the meat during cooking. I use the marinade from the pork neck itself, which helps keep the meat moist while also allowing the surface to become crispy and delicious. This method not only maintains the meat's tenderness but also ensures each bite is infused with a rich aroma.

To enhance the flavour, I also prepared a Thai dipping sauce. This sauce is spicy, tangy, and sweet, making it very appetising. When enjoying the pork neck, you can dip the slices into this sauce to add an extra layer of flavour. The spicy, tangy, and sweet notes of the sauce make the pork neck even more tantalising, ensuring each bite is full of unique Thai flavours.

Additionally, it's worth noting that due to the uneven shape of the pork neck, you should occasionally press down on the pork with a spatula during the cooking process. This ensures that the surface of the meat cooks evenly. This little trick helps achieve a perfectly crisp and aromatic finish on each piece, enhancing the overall texture of the dish.

Ingredients

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Basic Ingredients

Pork Neck	400g
Lime	1 each
Lemongrass	2 sticks
Garlic	1 whole blub
Shallot	4 cloves
Fish Sauce	2 tbsp
Rose cooking wine	1 tbsp
Sugar / Palm Sugar	25g

Thai Sweet & Sour Sauce

Lemongrass	1 stick
Garlic	2 cloves
Bird's eye Chilli	1 each
Lime	1 each
Fish Sauce	2 tsp
Coriander	1 sprig
Sugar / Palm Sugar	25g

Steps

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1. Remove the fat from the surface of the pork neck. Finely chop the shallots and garlic. Peel off the outer 2-3 layers of the lemongrass, using only the upper part, then slice and finely chop it. Finely chop the coriander.

2. Over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté the lemongrass until golden brown.

3. Place the pork neck in a large bowl and add the fried lemongrass (reserve 1 teaspoon), garlic (reserve 1 teaspoon), 25g of sugar, minced shallots, juice of 1 lime, 2 tbsp of fish sauce, and 1 tbsp of rose wine. Mix well and massage the meat with your hands for 5 minutes, then marinate for 1 hour.

4. To make the sauce: Mix the reserved 1 tsp of lemongrass with garlic, bird's eye chilies, coriander, 25g of sugar, juice from 1 lime, and 2 tsp of fish sauce. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and set aside.

5. After marinating the pork neck for 1 hour, scrape off all the marinade from the surface. Strain the remaining marinade to filter out the marinade juice, and then simmer over medium-low heat until slightly thickened. Set aside for later use.

6. Heat a pan over medium heat and add a small amount of oil. Place the pork neck in the pan and cook one side for 3 minutes. Then flip it over, cover with a lid, and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

7. After removing the lid, evenly brush the thickened marinade onto both sides of the pork neck. After brushing, cover the pot and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the lid, brush the pork neck with the marinade again, cover, and cook for an additional 3 minutes until done.

8. After letting the pork neck meat cool for 5 minutes, slice it and dip it in the spicy and sour sauce for an extra burst of flavour!