Ingredients

• knob of butter
• olive oil
• for drizzling
• 1 large onion
• finely chopped
• 8 garlic cloves
• finely chopped
• 2 medium aubergine
• cut into 1cm/¼in dice
• 10 okra topped
• tailed and halved
• 8g/¼oz capers
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• splash red wine
• 6 medium plum tomatoes
• finely chopped
• 80g/3oz whole black olives
• stones removed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• handful fresh basil and parsley leaves
• to serve
• 4 slices pork belly
• 10g/1/3oz fennel seeds
• olive oil
• for cooking
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 150g/5½oz rice flour
• 100g/3½oz cornflour
• 800ml/28fl oz sparkling water
• splash cider vinegar
• 6 topped and tailed okras
• vegetable oil
• for deep-frying

Directions

• To make thecaponata
• gently fry the onions and garlic in small frying pan with a little butter and olive oil. When tender and golden
• remove from the heat and set aside.
• Meanwhile
• warm a little more of the oil in another frying pan and gently fry the aubergine until golden-brown. Add half the okra and soften slightly. Add the capers
• the cooked onions and garlic
• a splash more oil and the vinegar to the pan and simmer for a minute or two.
• Add the tomatoes and wine and simmer for around 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper
• throw in the basil and parsley and top with a little drizzle of olive oil to serve.
• To make the chargrilled pork belly
• season the pork with salt
• pepper and the fennel seeds. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium–high heat and fry the pork belly slices for around 5 minutes on each side or until they are deeply caramelised and cooked through. Rest for 10 minutes.
• To make the deep-fried okra
• fill a deep-fat fryer or a large
• deep
• heavy-bottomed pan two-thirds full with the oil. Heat to 180C (a cube of bread should turn brown in one minute when dropped in.) CAUTION: Hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.
• Mix the flours together in a bowl and transfer 30g/1oz to another bowl. Add the sparkling water to the main bowl and whisk well to combine. Dip the okra in the reserved flour
• then into the batter and deep-fry until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper.
• To serve
• spoon some caponata onto each plate and top with the pork belly and deep-fried okra.