Preparing the pork belly. Heat a water bath to 83°C. Prepare the pork belly by removing all the hairs with a razor. Stir the rest of the ingredients together to make the marinade.
Place the belly of pork into a clean large vacuum bag and add the marinade, seal twice on hard vacuum (seal once, cut open and seal again). Cook in the preheated water bath for 12 hours. Chill the belly in ice water once cooked and refrigerate until needed.
Preparing the puffed pork rice. Place the cleaned pigskin in a large saucepan covered with cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 1 hour. Drain and lay the skin flat on a tray. Use a spoon to scrape and discard the loose excess fat from the skin. Leave the skin to cool and refrigerate over night. Mince the skin using an electric mincer and dehydrate the minced skin at 80°C for 3 hours. Heat the deep-fat fryer to 160°C and fry the dehydrated minced pigs skin in 2 or 3 batches till golden brown (about 2 minutes), then drain on kitchen paper and lightly season with salt. Set aside until needed.
Preparing the pig’s ears. Carefully scrape the hairs off the pig’s ears using a sharp razor blade, then wash and pat them dry. Place the prepared pig’s ears in a large saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water. Cover the pan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until any scum has risen to the surface. Drain and rinse the ears in a colander, then return them to the pan and cover with plenty of fresh cold water. Add sea salt, onion, carrot, celery, coriander seeds, bay leaf, garlic, rosemary and thyme. Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 2 hours or until the ears are cooked and tender, topping up the water once or twice during this period, if necessary.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave the ears to cool in the liquid at room temperature. After about 1 hour, drain the mixture, reserving the pig’s ears and discarding the cooking liquid and vegetables, herbs and spices. Slice the ears into 3–4mm slices. Put flour into a bowl and season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Toss the ear strips in the seasoned flour, coating them completely, then shake off any excess flour and place them on a plate.
Heat a deep-fat fryer with oil to 160°C. Once the oil is hot enough, deep-fry the pig’s ear strips (you’ll need to do this in 3 to 4 batches) in the hot oil for 3–4 minutes or until golden brown and crisp all over, shaking the basket or stirring them to prevent the strips from sticking together. Using a slotted spoon, remove and drain the deep-fried pig’s ear strips on kitchen paper. Season with salt and keep warm.
Preparing the pickled swede. Place vinegars, sugar and star anise in a medium saucepan, bring to the boil and cook for 8 minutes over medium heat. Mix the corn flour, salt, turmeric and mustard powder in a small bowl, add the cold water and dissolve. Add one ladle of hot vinegar to the corn flour paste, stir and add the paste to the hot vinegar, stir to dissolve and then bring back to the boil over medium heat and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside. Use a Japanese spaghetti slicer to make swede spaghetti, then pour the hot pickling liquid over the swede and leave to cool and refrigerate until needed.
To serve. Cut the pork belly into portion sizes, panfry till golden brown and hot all the way through, serve with reheated date puree, pickled swede and crispy pig’s ears and puffed pork rice.