Thomasina Miers’ recipes for slow-cooked pork belly with chipotle and Mexican-style smacked cucumbers

Thomasina Miers’ slow-cooked pork belly with chipotle and tamarind, and lime-and-chilli smacked cucumber. Photograph: Issy Croker/The Guardian. Food and prop styling: Emily Ezekiel. Food styling assistant: Omar Foster

Mexico’s love of pork is well documented, but how the country is influenced by so many different food cultures not so much be that exotic ingredients from the east such as sesame, tamarind and cloves, the importation of kebab cooking from the Lebanese or the use of French techniques from the short reign of Maximilian. Here, the scraps in the pan, a mirepoix and the classic pairing of smoked chillies and tamarind would work well with any cut of pork but, with belly, its flavour melts into the beautifully tangy, smoky sauce.

Slow-cooked pork belly with chipotle and tamarind (pictured top)