Black And White Pork Belly Noodle Soup

[Cuban]

I love these noodles, I find that they make fantastic soups if cooked with meat with a high fat content. Take a lump of pork belly, with a razor shave the fine hairs off the skin then make deep (over half way) cuts with a sharp knife, turn over and cut again at 90 degrees to the first incisions. Cook long and slow with chopped garlic and coriander leaves, a little salt, sugar and MSG. After about three hours I think that the meat is soft enough and fat liberated, add a handful of finely cut white cabbage and the noodles - the soup is ready after a further 20 minutes.

Nice and simple procedure but I'm sure some of you are wondering why I entitled this thread "Black & White": To achieve the black and white status simply take a phone call from a nearby neighbor shortly after starting cooking and spend the next three hours fixing his computer while the meat goes from perfectly tender through to carbonized.

I've done a similar version with chicken and sweetcorn before (without the charcoal), it's better with dark meat than lean breast IMHO. Next time I want to do one with duck and roasted chestnuts.