Crispy, crunchy, crackly Roast Pork Belly is a favorite of many. It can be made at home with just 4 ingredients and a little bit of patience.
As far back as I can remember, crackly Roast Pork (Siew Yoke) was only served during festivals and special occasions like weddings, milestone birthdays, and baby’s full moon (celebration of baby’s first month of life). An entire roast pig or siew chee had to be ordered from the butcher. The choicest part of the roast pig was the belly because it was the most tasty and the crackling most crispy. The ribs were also in demand. The other parts were less desirable and were kept for making soups or cut up and used in other dishes.
Roast Pork Belly (Siew Yoke)
Somewhere along the way, someone came up with the idea of roasting just the pork belly itself. This resulted in a very tasty and crispy crackling. That was when chicken rice hawkers started offering Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly) in addition to boiled or roast chicken. This Roast Pork Belly became really popular. Instead of going to the butcher, people went to the hawkers for small portions of this delectable meat. Not long after that, these enterprising hawkers started accepting orders by the pound for the Chinese New Year and other festivities.
Here in the US, regular grocery stores seldom offer pork belly for sale as most of it is used for making bacon. Asian grocery stores usually sell them in slabs or strips. It is best to purchase an entire slab if possible. This store that I went to did not have slabs and so I had to buy strips instead. The preparation remains the same but the cooking time may vary slightly. Strips will cook a little faster. Please adjust time accordingly.
To ensure a crispy crackling, the pork belly should be thoroughly dried with paper towels. It should then be left uncovered in the refrigerator overnight on a rack. The purpose of scalding the pork is to remove impurities and also to soften the rind for easy piercing. Be generous with the salt on the rind. It should be evenly coated.
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Crispy, crunchy, crackly Roast Pork Belly is a favorite of many. It can be made at home with just 4 ingredients and a little bit of patience.
- 2 lb pork belly with rind (preferably in one slab) (900g)
- 2 to 3 tsp salt
- ½ tsp five spice powder
- ½ tsp ground pepper
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Combine 1 teaspoon salt, five-spice powder, and pepper in a small bowl.
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Scrape pork belly rind with knife to remove impurities. Rinse and drain.
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Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch pork belly in boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove and pat dry with paper towels.
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Place pork belly on a tray with meat side up. Use a knife cut several lines about ¼ inch and 1 inch apart deep along the length of the pork belly. Rub salt mixture evenly onto the meat.
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Flip the pork belly over. Again cut several lines about ¼ inch deep and 1 inch apart along the length of the pork belly. Pierce rind all over with a fork. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub remaining 1 to 2 teaspoons of salt evenly onto the rind.
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Place pork belly on a rack over the tray and allow it to dry uncovered overnight in the refrigerator.
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When ready to roast, pour just enough water to cover the base of the tray without wetting the pork belly. Roast in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven.
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Move oven rack with mittens to the top most level close to the broiler. Return meat to the rack. With the oven door slightly ajar, turn oven to broiler setting. Rind will start to blister and crack. Allow it to continue to grill for approximately 10 minutes or when rind is evenly blistered. Remove when done.
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Allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Remove charred bits by scrapping with a knife. Cut into desired serving sizes. Serve immediately with mustard and sweet chili sauce.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
I Love Love Love Pork Belly! Never thought of using 5 Spice can’t wait to try it
Roast pork belly is quite delicious. My boys love it too. The five-spice give it a little more flavor.
I have never worked with or eaten pork belly… but I see it all over the Food Network. This looks great. 🙂
You should at least try it once. I think you will get hooked once you’ve tried it. 🙂
Roti this looks so tempting. I love that the skin is crunchy.
Have a blessed afternoon.
Thanks Mari! The crunchy skin is what makes this pork so tasty.
Xin Nian Kwai Le to you and your family, Biren. Your roast pork looked so delicious and the crackling looked great! I made the same dish for lunch yesterday and they were all gone, though I must say I need more practice in getting the crackling to blister more evenly! Lovely post as always,Biren.
Xin Nian Kuai Le, Dong Xing! I hope you had a fantastic celebration with your family. Getting the crackling just right does take a little practice but I am sure you will get better at it. So glad mine came out so nicely this time. 🙂
Oh Biren – this pork belly looks perfect! I love the crackling on the top! We use to just make crackling without the belly. I love it!
In the old days, crackling was very popular. People also rendered pork fat for lard and enjoyed the crispy crunchy residue. Nowadays, this dish is made only during holidays as a treat. 🙂
WoW your roast pork turns out perfect & nice. The leftover can also be used in making ‘kuo rou’. I bet your kids love it too.
Kristy
There is usually hardly any leftovers unless I plan for it by making extra. I am not sure what “kuo rou” is but I use the leftovers to make “chai boey” or chop suey soup.
This is truely DELISH – I use pork belly a lot. First go with 5 spice. One small tip – suggest lining the bottom of the pan with tin foil time under the broiler [or grill as we call it in the UK] sorta makes the missus cry at clean up time. 🙂 You can also catch the juices + soy and it makes a nice sauce…
Next one [celebrating finding a slab o belly pork in the reduced section at the supermarket] I am goign to add the Yorkshire method of adding vinegar to enhance the charckling
Thanks Art! Lining the pan with foil is a good idea. Will do that the next time. BTW, I have tried the vinegar method but did not notice much of a difference and so I decided to save myself a step. 🙂
yup – tried it with vinegar – waste of vinegar 🙁 .
This is truly a lovely dish with much meaning! I remember we used to have this (the whole roasted pig from the butcher) at special festivals and the butcher would put newspaper all over the floor in the kitchen and with his huge meat ckleaver and wooden chopping board he would set about cutting the pig in the most methodical way. The belly he would cut and arrange separate on a plate, and we would offer it to the gods, and say blessings, then we would eat it, with toothpicks, and maybe dip it in a bit of hoi sin sauce. It was really a big occasion to have such a butcher man prepare this before all the guests!. A wonderful special dish!
Those are wonderful memories and I have a few myself with roasted piggies. 🙂 It was always followed by a huge pot of Chop Suey Soup. Good times and good food! 🙂
Biren, I don’t take pork. I am thinking of trying it with lamb. Do you think it will work?
I am not sure if lamb would work and if a cut similar to pork belly with the rind may be purchased.
nope – this would be a waste of lamb. the “joy” of this dish [for me at least is the uncousness [sp ?] of the fatty pork and the crunch of the skin. lamb skin will not “crackle” – not enough fat content. you will just end up with charred lamb
Thank you for this fabulous recipe. I cooked it this afternoon after starting it last night. We shared it with friends and everyone agreed that it was better than the crispy pork from the local market here in Penang.
Amazing recipe. Made it and it was delicious.