Chinese style pork belly
Here at the FatSteak club we are slightly obsessed with crackling. How to achieve the perfect crispy crunchy covering to a pork joint, be it a pork shoulder, pork belly, or just the skin itself. This recipe guarantees as much of a result as any, but also flavours the meat with Chinese style spices. This could be cooked low and slow, which will render out more of the fat, but who has time to wait?
The most important part of the process is the overnight rest in the fridge to dry out the skin completely, don’t skip this part or the crackle won’t crisp!
Step 1 - Prepare your meat
Use a sharp knife and make sure the skin is scored all over in thin strips, or ask your butcher to do it for you
Mix the vinegar, five spice powder and salt into a paste
Rub the paste into the flesh side of the pork belly, but don’t get any on the skin
Step 2 - Wrap and dry
Place the pork belly flesh side down on a piece of tin foil
Wrap the foil up the sides of the meat, but leave the skin uncovered
Pop the meat into a roasting tin and put the meat in the fridge overnight to completely dry out
Step 3 - Cook and crisp!
Take the pork out of the fridge an hour before you want to start cooking
Heat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6
Cover the top of the pork with coarse sea salt
Put it in the oven for an hour, or until the internal temp is 65 - 70C in the thickest part
Carefully brush the salt off the top of the meat
If the skin isn’t crisp enough slice the skin from the joint
Cover the meat with foil and leave to rest
Put the skin back in the oven and crank the temperature up to max
Check every 5 mins until the skin puffs and crisps. Don’t let it burn!
Serve it in thick slices, with your favourite side, like some simple stir fry broccoli or sticky rice, and a pile of cracking.
Ingredients - Chinese style pork belly
1kg x pork belly, skin on
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tsp salt
50g coarse sea salt
