If you are a fan of pork belly meat, you must try this recipe. It is a dish with minimum effort but giving you the most flavorful result. Although it is a fat cut of pork, the pork belly cooked in this way is everything but grease. Instead, it is juicy and in a good balance of crunchiness and tenderness.
WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE THE CRISPY PORK BELLY AT HOME
1. Easy preparation with almost zero effort
If you scroll down to the recipe, you might be scared away at the first sight by the preparation time of this dish. But calm down and check better. You will realize that 90% of the time in preparation is on marinating. That is to say once we put the marinade on the meat, we can leave all the hard work to “time”. 18 hours of marinating in the fridge. It is the key procedure to have a piece of juicy and flavorful meat. It also gives you enough time to take a good sleep before coming back to finish the work.
2. Cooked in the oven
Cooking in oven is the most effortless way of cooking I can think of. Besides, it is a great way to avoid a greasy stove. Just make sure to cover your baking tray with aluminum paper to minimize stains.
3. Serve it with salad leaves and sauce of your choice
No need to spend too much time figuring out what side to go with the crispy pork belly. Simply wash some salad leaves and place some of your preferred dipping sauces. Senape, Korean Gochujang, Sichuan pepper flavored salt are my favorite choices!
HOW TO GET THE CRISPY SKIN
An outstanding character of this dish is the crunchy pork skin. To get it, there are a few notes:
- Make sure the skin is air-dried. Wipe away the marinade from the skin and leave the meat in fridge without covering it.
- Brush a layer of vinegar on the skin, then cover it with coarse sea salt before sending it into the oven.
A FESTIVAL DISH FOR THE NEW YEAR DINNER
The pork belly (五花肉 in Chinese) is consider an auspicious ingredient. For this reason, we often prepare dishes using pork belly for new year gatherings. If you are considering preparing a special dinner to celebrate the Chinese New Year, why not put this dish on the menù?
Check out my eBook for more lucky dishes for the Chinese New Year.
CRISPY PORK BELLY COOKED IN OVEN (脆皮五花肉)
Course: SECOND COURSECuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Low4
persons20
minutes45
minutes10
hoursThis is a dish with minimum effort but giving you the most flavorful result. Although it is a fat cut of pork, the pork belly cooked in this way is everything but grease. Instead, it is juicy and in a good balance of crunchiness and tenderness.
INGREDIENTS
Pork belly: 300g
Rice vinegar: 2 tbsp
Coarse salt: as much as needed
- For scalding
Scallion: 1
Ginger: 4 slices
Sichuan peppercorn: 1 tsp
- For marinating
Aromatic Sichuan pepper salt: 1 tsp
Five spice powder: 1 tsp
Yellow curry powder: a little
Chilli pepper flakes (or paprika): 1 tsp
Dark soy sauce: 1 tsp
Oyster sauce: 2 tbsp
Preparation
- Clean the pork belly meat. If there are hair on the skin, burn them and wash the meat under running water.
- Prepare a pot filled with water. Put the pork belly and all ingredients listed under group "For scalding" into the pot. When water boils, lower the heat and cook it for 30 minutes.
- In the meanwhile, prepare the marinade: put all ingredients listed in group "For marinating" in a bowl and mix them together.
- Take the pork belly out. Tap away the remaining water on the surface using a piece of kitchen paper.
- Place the pork belly with the skin side down, give a few cuts on the meat without cutting through the skin.
- Spread the marinade evenly on the pork belly. Make sure the marinade covers everywhere of the meat, except for the skin.
- Prick the skin using a toothpick. Then wipe it with kitchen paper. At last brush a layer of rice vinegar on the skin.
- Put the pork belly in fridge without covering it. Leave to marinate for 10-18 hours.
- (the day after) Put the pork belly on a piece of aluminium paper, with the skin side facing up. Fold the aluminium paper vertically, in the way of building up walls around the meat. Make sure the walls are slightly higher than the meat, so they can hold the salt.
- Brush a layer of rice vinegar on the skin. Then lay the coarse salt on top.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put the baking tray into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Take out the tray and remove the aluminum paper wrapped around the meat. Remove the salt on the skin.
- Put the tray back in oven and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Cut the meat into small pieces. Eat it with the sauce of your choice and salade leaves.
VIDEO RECIPE
I think it is a great dish to enjoy together with a group of friends. With the company of some beer and peanuts, maybe also a great movie or TV show. It may make the cosiest winter moment of the year!
When you prepare this dish, don't forget to SHARE IT on your social media using hashtag #cinaintavola and TAG ME @cinaintavola. FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube to stay in touch!
