Of all the things I thought I’d be making for a weeknight dinner, twice cooked pork belly was not one of them.

I had some pork belly in the freezer so cut the slices in half, trimmed off the rind and any really fatty bits, and then into the slow cooker for two hours with garlic, ginger and chicken stock.

I do like pork belly, but have vivid childhood memories of big, hairy slabs of bacon, the living daylights boiled out of it and yet somehow it was still mostly made of squidgy undercooked fat. Most often served with parsley sauce, potatoes and yellowing boiled cabbage. Colcannon if you were really lucky.

My slow cooker bell pieces looked pretty grey but the fat definitely seemed cooked. drained them then sliced each piece into 3 to give nice bite sizes that would also not be a pain to stuff a bao with.

Into a hot pan with a little oil, and browned all over. Then a mixture of soy sauce, honey, ginger and brown sugar went in which caramelized and coloured the meat beautifully.

Into my steamed and very shop bought buns, with scallion, red pepper and coriander. I also added Sriracha – no chilli in the pan as smallies find it too much.

Clean plates all around, with even my sceptical eldest boy. Definitely making this one again.