Crispy Chinese Pork Belly

Ingredients

• 1 Regenerative Farms pork belly, skin on (800 - 1.2kg)

• 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Substitute Dry Sherry or Mirin)

• 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder

• 1 tsp white pepper 

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp white vinegar (helps conduct heat evenly)

• 200 g rock salt 

Instructions

PREPARE PORK BELLY

1. Use an ice pick, sharp metal skewer or another tool to prick tons and tons of holes in the skin. Avoid piercing into the fat as best you can, and really ensure you do not pierce the flesh.

2. Turn the pork belly upside down. Rub the flesh (not skin) with Chinese cooking wine, dribbling it on gradually. Sprinkle over five spice powder, salt and pepper. Rub all over flesh, including sides (not on skin).

3. Turn skin side up and place in a container. Dab skin dry with paper towels. Refrigerate uncovered for 12 hours (max 24 hrs, min 3 hrs).
    

COOK:

1. Preheat oven to 180C 

2. Remove pork from the fridge. Place onto a large sheet of foil. Fold up sides of foil around the pork to enclose it snugly with a 1.5cm rim above the pork skin (to hold salt in).

3. Transfer pork to a baking tray. Dab skin with paper towels.

4. Brush skin with vinegar.

5. Spread rock salt on the skin (the foil edges will stop it from falling down the sides).

6. Roast for 60 minutes.

7. Remove pork from the oven and transfer onto the work surface.

8. Switch to grill/broiler on medium high. Move the shelf so it is at least 25cm from the heat source.

9. Fold down foil and scrape all the salt off the top and sides. Return pork only (i.e. discard foil) to the baking tray. 

10. Place under grill/broiler for 20 - 25 minutes, rotating tray once, until skin is golden, crispy and puffed.
     

TO SERVE

1. Remove pork onto a cutting board. Slice into 1 - 1.5cm  thick slices, then into smaller slices

2. Serve with ordinary yellow mustard or Hot English Mustard, Not Dijon. Sometimes it is served with white sugar on the side too. Add some fresh raw vegetables like cucumber and radish.

Notes:

Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) - substitute dry sherry or Mirin. If you can't consume alcohol, just skip it and add an extra 1/4 tsp salt.

Rock Salt is used because it's easy to remove and also the salt doesn't slip down into the holes which would make the pork too salty.

Skin piercing  - If you pierce the fat too much (a bit is ok) or flesh, then after you remove the salt crust and place it under the grill/broiler, juices will bubble up onto the skin and prevent the skin from getting crispy. It's not the end of the world if you have a handful of pricks that went too deep, you will just get tiny splotches or little strips of crackling that's not 100% crispy.


Happy Crackling,

Farmer Steph

Gratefully adapted from “Recipe Tin Eats.”