Ever since I started making my own roast pork at home, I no longer buy or eat those from roast meat stalls. Sometimes, the outside ones might have a higher ratio of fat to meat, could be too salty or cold and soggy because it was left hanging out for too long.
Like freshly baked bread, nothing can beat a homemade roasted pork belly like this.
I actually experimented with roast pork belly a couple of times before but I just thought the crackling didn’t turn out as crispy (and airy) as I wanted it to be with my initial techniques. When I came across this authentic Cantonese style roast pork recipe, I was really excited because the roast pork turned out to be the best version ever!
Crispy crackling, juicy & tender meat with a nice aroma from the 5-spice powder. Yum.
Now, this crispy roast pork is a must-have at every festive meal. You can eat it on its own, use it in prosperity pots, stir fry with vegetables or add into clear soups. Endless possibilities and I guarantee you’d get hooked on this.
Crispy Roast Pork Recipe
4-6
750g pork belly
coarse salt
Seasoning:
1 tsp 5-spice powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp chicken seasoning powder
1 tbsp Shaoxing Huadiao wine
Pluck off any visible hairs on the pork rind with a pair of tweezers. Wash and rinse the pork belly and then wipe dry with paper towels. With a metal pricker, pierce as many holes as possible on the pork rind.
Cut slits on the pork meat part (do not cut through to the skin) and marinate only that meat part with the seasoning. Once done, overturn the pork belly and air-dry it in the fridge for at least 2 hours with the rind facing up.
Preheat oven at 230 deg C. Remove the pork belly from the fridge and wrap/cover the bottom meat part with aluminium foil, leaving the rind portion exposed. Ensure the height of the aluminium foil is at least 1/2″ above the pork rind. Place the pork belly on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil.
Cover the rind portion completely with a generous amount of coarse salt.
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 50 minutes. Once done, remove the pork belly from the oven and remove the layer of coarse salt.
Change the oven setting to Grill and reduce the temperature to 210 deg C. Insert the baking tray into the highest shelf of oven and grill for 20 minutes till the rind crackles and crisps up.
Remove the pork belly from oven and leave to cool before chopping into pieces for serving.
It’s quite a bit of work to prep that piece of pork belly but it isn’t difficult to do so 🙂 the key is to puncture as many holes on the rind as possible to ensure maximum crackling and crispiness – worth the time making it. Let me know how it goes when you try it out 🙂
Hi! The skin of pork belly came out of oven crispy and nice but they become soft very fast. I dont think my technique is wrong as the skin is really crispy. So do you know what did I do wrong? Thanks
How fast did they become soft? As in within minutes? Can be various reasons though – like room temperature, humidity, moisture/juices from the meat, etc. Or perhaps you didn’t leave it to cool long enough and you cut the slab up and transfer onto serving plate? Cos that will cause moisture to build up and make the skin turn soggy. You may want to leave the pork belly on a wire rack to cool completely when you remove it from the oven, not on a tray, plate or any flat surface that is lined with kitchen towels or oil absorbent paper so as to prevent condensation that may increase moisture. Hope this helps 🙂
Yummm!
It was really delicious! 🙂
Mouthwatering!
Oh yes, easily addicted to it 😉
Great recipe for roast pork!
Thanks! 🙂
Is it really that easy to make at home…? I always thought people needed like industrial cookware at specialty shops to make it! Now I want to try!
It’s quite a bit of work to prep that piece of pork belly but it isn’t difficult to do so 🙂 the key is to puncture as many holes on the rind as possible to ensure maximum crackling and crispiness – worth the time making it. Let me know how it goes when you try it out 🙂
Hi! The skin of pork belly came out of oven crispy and nice but they become soft very fast. I dont think my technique is wrong as the skin is really crispy. So do you know what did I do wrong? Thanks
How fast did they become soft? As in within minutes? Can be various reasons though – like room temperature, humidity, moisture/juices from the meat, etc. Or perhaps you didn’t leave it to cool long enough and you cut the slab up and transfer onto serving plate? Cos that will cause moisture to build up and make the skin turn soggy. You may want to leave the pork belly on a wire rack to cool completely when you remove it from the oven, not on a tray, plate or any flat surface that is lined with kitchen towels or oil absorbent paper so as to prevent condensation that may increase moisture. Hope this helps 🙂