Vietnamese pork with ginger

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 200 ml coconut milk
• n. B. water
• 750 g pork shoulder
• 1 chili pepper(s)
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ tsp black peppercorns
• Salt
• 100 g sugar
• 2 tbsp oil (soybean oil)
• 4 star anise
• 1 piece(s) orange peel, untreated
• 75 g fresh ginger
• 1 bunch of spring onions
• 2 stalks of basil (preferably Thai basil)
• 2 sprigs of mint
• 1 stalk of lemongrass
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• some coriander leaves

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Mix the coconut milk with 200 ml of water. Cut the meat into 2-3 cm pieces. Wash the chili pepper, halve it, remove the stem, seeds, and white inner pith, and chop the flesh. Peel the garlic and crush it with the chili pieces, peppercorns, and salt in a mortar and pestle until it forms a paste. Mix the sugar with 3 tablespoons of water in a saucepan, melt, and heat until golden brown. Then add 125 ml of water, bring the caramelized sugar to a boil, and let the sauce cool. Heat the oil, brown the meat, add the garlic and chili paste. Add the star anise, orange zest, caramel sauce, and diluted coconut milk, and cook for 20 minutes. Peel and finely chop the ginger. Trim the spring onions and cut them into 2 cm pieces. Add the ginger and onion to the meat and continue cooking for about 25 minutes. Wash the basil, coriander, and mint, shake dry, remove the stems, and chop. Finely chop the lemongrass. Mix all the herbs into the meat and season with lime juice.