Crispy Pork Belly

My husband and I LOVE pork, and for about 3 years we have been looking for the perfect pork belly recipe; and finally we have found it. This recipe originated from Souped Up Recipes.

We buy our pork belly from the butcher, but you can buy it from your local supermarket. Before you start whipping this up, make sure your pork belly strip is even. Sometimes they come with a thicker part at the end: using a knife, level it out and remove the excess meat.

For this recipe, you cook the pork belly the night before, and then reheat/crispen the skin the following night.

Please note, there is an instructional video below which shows EXACTLY how everything should be done. I highly recommend watching it as the written instructions are HUGE.

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PORK BELLY INGREDIENTS:

• Pork Belly (we usually get around 500g)
• 5 Slices Ginger
• 3 TBSP Cooking Wine (see photo below)

DRY RUB INGREDIENTS:

• 1 TBSP of Sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp of Chinese Five Spice (see photo below)

SKIN INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Sesame Oil

EXTRA INGREDIENTS (for the pork prep)

• 1/2 tsp salt
• Additional Cooking Wine

You don’t have to use this type of cooking wine (rice wine). I’m sure if push came to shove, you could use any white wine.

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DIRECTIONS

Step 1:

1. Put a large pot on the stove, and half fill with water and add your ginger and cooking wine
2. Bring it to the boil
3. Add the pork in and cook for a further two minutes

Step 2:

1. While this is happening, add your dry rub ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Once the pork has cooked, remove from the boiling water and place on a breadboard skin side up
3. With a fork, pierce the skin thoroughly and make as many holes in the skin as possible
4. You pierce the skin to make sure it’s not tough – the more holes the better
5. This will take time, so don’t skip on the holes! (watch the video below for more details)
6. Once you’re satisfied with the amount of holes, using a paper towel, wipe off any excess fat

Step 3:

1. Put 1/2 tsp salt onto the pierced pork skin
2. Rub in and massage the whole surface of the skin
3. Turn the pork over, onto a paper towel
4. Slice the pork meat lengthways with roughly 2.5 cms between each cut and make sure you don’t cut all the way down to the skin (see video)
5. Next, rub some more cooking wine over the meat
6. Season with the dry rub ingredients that you put together earlier
7. Make sure the dry rub goes over all of the meat (don’t get it on the skin!)

Step 4:

1. If the meat looks like it needs it, follow the instructions in the video for adding skewers
2. Next, turn the meat back over, and using tin foil, make a wee tinfoil box around the meat (with the skin facing up)
3. If you see any spices on the skin, wipe off with a paper towel.
4. Place the tinfoil box with the pork belly in it, into the fridge and leave it there overnight
5. This will dry the skin out

Step 5 (the next night):

1. Remove from the fridge, and place on a baking tray (still in it’s tinfoil tray)
2. Rub 1/2 tsp baking powder over the skin (the baking powder will cause a chemical reaction and make the skin crispy)
3. Add 1/2 tsp sesame oil and rub over the baking powder

COOKING:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius
2. Place the meat in the middle of the oven and bake for 40 minutes
3. After 40 minutes, move to the top rack and adjust your oven to the GRILL mode
4. You need to watch now, like a hawk, to ensure the skin goes crispy and doesn’t burn
5. You will know once the skin is done when it looks beautiful and crispy

YOUTUBE:

This pork belly recipe is a labour of love, and whilst the instructions seem huge, it’s actually relatively easy. This is the BEST pork belly recipe we’ve ever had and it turns out amazing each time.

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