Chinese Roast Pork Belly
Continuing on with my pork journey is this to die for crisp roast pork belly. You may have seen this at a Chinese restaurant as an appetizer served with a variety of dipping sauces. The meat of the skin on belly is marinated in a pretty standard mix of soy sauce/oyster sauce/rice wine/ 5 spice overnight uncovered in the refrigerator. The belly is first roasted at 400 degrees to sear in the juices; then slowly at 300 degrees to render out the fat; then at 450 degrees to crisp the skin. What you get in return is a rainbow of tender pork with a layer of salty, crispy skin. I highly recommend looking for your pork belly at an Asian market. It is only $3.79lb at the one I shop at, which is about half the price of anywhere else. I think it’s very good quality. They have pork belly cut every single way you can imagine. For this recipe, you want a single 3lb slab with the skin on. Skinless will not work for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 lb pork belly slab skin on
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup rice cooking wine
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt
Instructions
- Mix all of the marinade ingredients together.
- Cut cross hatches through the skin of the pork belly, but not into the fat of meat.
- Place the marinade in a baking dish with the pork belly meat side down , trying to make sure that the marinade doesn’t get onto the skin. Marinate overnight uncovered in the refrigerator.
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the pork belly skin side up on a rack on a baking pan lined in foil. Dry the skin side with paper towel. Rub a heavy layer of salt across the skin.
- Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 300 degrees and roast for 2 hours. Turn the oven up to 450 and roastfor 20-30 minutes until the skin is crispy. It is very important to have water at the bottom of the baking sheet. If not, plan on calling the fire department. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.
- Cut the belly into 4 pieces like so.
- Take one of the chunks and slice it horizontally.
- Serve as a main course or as an appetizer with dipping sauces such as hot mustard or plum sauce.
