Browning the sugar in a dutch oven is a little tricky. Traditionally, the cooking is done in a round bottom wok, so the sugar will be fully submerged in the oil, which helps with even browning. When using a flat bottom pot, it’s hard to fully submerge the sugar in the oil. What you can do is:
– Use a little more oil, 3 tablespoons instead of 2 tablespoons.
– Sprinkle the sugar as even as possible onto the oil, to ensure all the sugar is soaked in the oil.
– Tilt and swirl the pot very slightly if the sugar is not fully covered by the oil.
If possible, try not to touch the sugar at all, because it leads to crystallization.
Your goal is to melt all the sugar and get most of them to the amber color, and it’s totally OK if some sugar has turn to syrup but not browned.
After you add the pork and start cooking, the syrup coats the pork and it will brown a more if you cook them a little longer.
That being said, the browning process helps more with the pork color. If you didn’t melt the sugar completely, it won’t affect the taste.

I did have trouble caramelizing the sugar and oil though, on a low (2) to medium (5) heat. I did use cane sugar instead of white sugar but the melting point should be similar. I wasn’t able to get my sugar to brown like your video, it stayed fairly white still and I had to add a bit more oil as the sugar was getting clumpy.

Any tips on what I should do next time to achieve the brown colour? Your notes mentioned low heat so I didn’t want to turn it up too high and risk burning it.

Most of the stew / braised meat dishes are great for freezing, for example:
https://omnivorescookbook.com/chinese-beef-stew/
https://omnivorescookbook.com/pressure-cooker-curry-beef-stew/
https://omnivorescookbook.com/beer-duck/
https://omnivorescookbook.com/recipes/moms-best-braised-chicken-with-mushrooms
https://omnivorescookbook.com/braised-coca-cola-chicken-wings/

Thanks so much. If you have other recipes that you recommend freezing I would love to know as I am trying to as smuch in advance as possible!

Yes! The dish freezes really well. When you reheat, the best way is to let it thaw in the fridge until fully thawed, then steam the meat for the best texture. If it’s a bit batch, you can also reheat it in the oven (dutch oven with lid on) or over the stovetop (medium low heat, stir frequently to prevent burning). Do not reheat in the microwave. Because pork belly is fatty, it might make pop sound in the microwave due to uneven heating.

I wonder if you used a higher heat for braising the meat this time. The broth should be simmering the whole time. If you use a high heat, it might over cook the lean part.

I’ve never test out the oven braising method but I think it will work.