Cut the skin-on pork belly into ⅓ of an inch thick slaps then dice into ⅓ of an inch thick pieces. Pork skin contains a lot of gelatin, which makes the sauce thick, shiny and flavorful.

Pre-heat a heavy duty cookware (claypot, dutch over, cast iron pot or any other cookwares that has thick walls) until nice and hot.

Add the pork without any oil and stir over medium-high heat until you get about ⅓ cup of pork fat. Tilt the pot to let the oil run to the side and transfer the fat into a saucepot. Reserve for later use.

Add garlic, ginger, star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and rock sugar to the pork. Continue to stir until the aromatics are fragrant.

Add the rest of the seasonings: light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, white pepper, and five-spice powder. Stir well and make sure you scrape the bottom to deglazed all that brown bits.

Pour in 2 - 4 cups of hot water and simmer on low heat for 1.5 hours. The amount of water needed may vary depending on your stove and cookware. Keep an eye on it during the simmering to make sure it is not evaporated too much. If you do end up needing to add more water, please add hot water, don’t add cold water.

Fry the shallot slices in the pork fat over medium low heat until lightly golden. Meanwhile, mince the rehydrated dry shrimp and add to the pork fat. Continue to fry for a few more minutes or until the shallots are golden brown. Dried shrimp is an optional ingredient, but it adds a third dimension to the dish, the fragrance becomes more complex and pungent.

Drain the oil by using a sieve. We only need the shallot for this recipe. You can save the oil for other uses.

Add the fried shallots to the braising pork and give it a stir. Let it keep simmering for the rest of the time.

Once done, pick out the spices. Skim off any excess fat. The final dish should be thick, stick, and saucy. If yours is too thin, you can reduce it. If it is too thick, you can add a little more water. Taste to adjust the flavor.

Scope the meat over some white rice. Serve with soft/hard boiled eggs and blanched leafy vegetables.