Chinese Crispy Pork Belly
Chinese crispy pork belly is the perfect balance of melt-in-your-mouth tenderness and shatteringly crisp crackling.
Equipment
- Oven
- Large pan for boiling
- Metal skewers or sharp knife
Ingredients
- 500 grams pork belly slab
- 1 cup of salt for drying the skin
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 heaped teaspoon black pepper powder
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil any variety
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar or honey
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce you can use store bought or the chef's recipe for homemade sweet chilli sauce here.
Instructions
- In a large pan of shallow boiling water place 500 grams pork belly slab, skin side down. Don't submerge the pork belly entirely, just the skin side. Cook for 8 minutes.
- Remove from the water, lay it skin side up, with a sharp knife scrape the surface of the skin to remove any residual hair.
- With the tip of a sharp knife or a metal skewer stab the skin in as many spots as you can, covering the entire surface. The skewer should pierce through only the layer of skin, don't push the skewer through the entire slab. This helps create a better crackling, as the holes create micro-pores of boiling fat when it is cooked. The more the holes the better the crackling.
- Cover the skin side of the pork belly liberally with 1 cup of salt. You can compact the salt over the surface, but only cover the skin side. This will draw out all the excess moisture from the skin and help create an even better crackling.
- Leave the pork belly with salt crust in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours, uncovered or covered with a breathable fabric. Leave overnight for best results.
- When ready, scrape off all the salt from the skin. Use a dry paper towel to wipe off any excess salt.
- In a bowl mix together 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 heaped teaspoon black pepper powder, 1 teaspoon brown sugar or honey, 2 tablespoons cooking oil and 1 teaspoon salt. This will be the marinade for the pork belly.
- Lay the pork belly with the skin side down on a dry paper towel. Score the meat lightly in a criss cross pattern with a sharp knife. This allows the marinade to penetrate more deeply.
- Massage in the marinade into the pork belly on the meaty side (not the skin side), being careful not to get marinade on the skin of the pork.
- Put the pork belly skin side up on a piece of foil which is 3 inches larger than the pork belly. Fold over the edges of the foil to create a snug container for the pork. This helps contain all the juices and oil. Refer to the picture in the Step-by-Step Guide.
- Preheat the oven to 160℃ (320℉) Brush the surface of the skin with 1 tablespoon white vinegar. Place the foil containers with the pork belly in a large baking dish to contain any oil overflow. Put this in the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 40 minutes.
- After 40 minutes, take out the pork belly. Turn the heat up to 200℃ (390℉). Brush the surface of the skin with oil and return it back to the oven for another 15 - 20 minutes, or until a golden brown crackling is formed.
- Once you see the crackling formed, take the pork out and carefully cut the sides of the foil packet, to drain out the oil. You can do this on an oven rack over a large container.
- Let the pork belly rest for 10 minutes for the crackling to set, before cutting into it. Cut into slices or pieces of your liking.
- Serve with a generous drizzle of sweet chilli sauce, store-bought or try the chef's recipe for homemade sweet chilli sauce here.
Video
Notes
Get the chef's recipe for easy homemade sweet chilli sauce here.