The Meat Room
Crispy pork belly
Crispy pork belly
Here is your classic crispy pork belly recipe
Ingredients:
• 1 pork belly 1 - 1.5kg (see notes)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp fennel powder (ground fennel seeds)
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp olive oil
Method:
• If you have the time, place the pork belly in the fridge, uncovered, overnight to dry out the skin.
• Turn oven on to 130°C
• Flip the pork over onto the skin side
• Mix the spices
• Drizzle 2 teaspoons of olive oil onto the meat, sprinkle the seasoning over and massage it well into the meat
• Lay 3 pieces of foil one on top of the other
• Place the seasoned pork on the foil, skin side up, and fold the sides in to enclose the belly, forming an open box with the skin exposed, pinching corners of the foil to seal it tightly and make it as snug as possible. Cooking the meat this way, at a lower heat, allows the fat to render out and collect in the foil tray. The meat essentially roasts in its own fat producing amazing flavour and beautifully tender meat
• Place meat on a tray.
• Rub 1 teaspoon of olive oil all over the skin of the pork and lightly sprinkle fine salt over it.
• Slow cooked the meat I the oven for 2 1/2 hours.
• After an hour you will need to seal the foil box tighter as the meat will have shrunk slightly
• After 2 1/2 hours, take the meat out and turn the oven up to 230°C.
• Take the pork out of the foil box and place on a roasting rack over another tray/drip tray
• When the oven is up to heat, put the meat back in for 20 - 30 minutes to crisp up the skin to perfect crackling. Keep checking to ensure the crackling doesn't burn
• Remove meat and rest for 10 minutes before slicing
• You could serve this with anything you'd serve with roast meat, however I chose to serve it with smoked cauliflower purée, gravy and apple sauce.
Notes:
Always use the very highest quality pork belly for this recipe. For the best results, try and get deboned belly with the skin unscored. If you can only get belly with the bone in, cook it in exactly the same way, as the meat will be tender enough to remove the bones at the end.