My husband and 3 children love the Crispy Roast Pork Belly. However, buying it is expensive (and thus, it cannot be eaten often) and we do not know whether the pork belly used is healthy. Even though I do not consume pork, I have learnt to make this dish by watching many videos and by looking through many recipes. Since then, I have successfully roasted the pork belly many times usually for festivals and prayers as well as for normal consumption.
Ingredients:
- 500 g pork belly, preferably rectangular shape. Ensure that the piece of pork belly is of the same level throughout. If not, try to slice away part of the thicker side. This is important as the thicker side will burn easily.
- 2 pcs preserved red bean curd and 2 tsp of the bean curd sauce.
- 1 tsp white pepper powder
- 1 tsp 5 spices powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- The marinade. Mix 2 pieces of preserved red bean curd, 2 teaspoon preserved red bean curd sauce, 1 teaspoon of white pepper powder, 1 teaspoon of 5 spices powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew into a bowl. Mix them up well and set aside.
- Boil some water in a pot/pan. When the water boils, put the pork belly into the pot/pan, skin-side down. Let the water boil for about 10 minutes or until the skin is soft enough to be poked.
- Remove the pork belly from the pot/pan. Drain off any water on it.
- Use a knife to score the meat side as shown in the photo.
- Turn the pork belly over and using any sharp tool (I am using a pair of pincers. You may use a fork or even the pointed end of the knife.), poke the skin all over so that it can crackle during roasting.
- Prepare a (baking) pan. Put a piece of aluminium foil (large enough for the pork belly to sit on and for its sides to be covered up.) into the pan.
- Put the pork belly into the pan, meat side up. Rub the marinade onto the meat. Make sure that the gaps where the meat has been scored are also marinated.
- Turn the meat over. Rub the skin with vinegar.
- Fold the foil to wrap up the meat, leaving the skin uncovered, as shown below.
- Put the pan with the pork belly overnight (or even 2 days as the longer the meat is marinated, the more flavourful it will be) in the fridge. The air flow in the fridge will dry up the skin.
Roasting the Pork:
- When you are ready to roast the pork belly, take it out from the fridge and let it warm up to room temperature. Wipe away any moisture from the skin with kitchen towel. Rub vinegar onto the skin and let it dry up. Repeat this 3 times. Vinegar will help in the crackling of the skin.
- Pre-heat oven to 230 degrees Celsius. Spread a layer of coarse salt on the skin. Place the pork belly, skin side up, with the foil onto the rack of your oven closest to the heating element. Roast for 30 minutes. (Remember to place a tray at the base of the oven to catch the oil that will expelled from the pork belly during roasting. If the heating element is too close to the base of the oven for the placement of a tray, place a piece of foil instead to catch the oil. Otherwise, you will have a hard time cleaning your oven after roasting the pork belly.)
- Remove pork belly from the oven. Remove the aluminium foil from the pork belly. Remove the salt from the skin.
- Place the pork belly back into the oven. Continue to roast for another 30 minutes.
- Remove the roasted pork from the oven and let it cool down.
- Chop up the crispy pork belly and serve.
