A Home Cook’s Guide to Making Crispy Pork Belly

Siu mei (燒味), a popular and affordable culinary delight in Hong Kong, encompasses an array of succulent roasted meats. This delectable assortment typically features roasted goose, char siu (barbecue pork), soy sauce chicken, and white-cut chicken. Today, I’m embarking on the exciting challenge of preparing roasted pork or crispy pork belly (燒腩肉) right in the cozy confines of my own home!

Ingredients:

• 3 tsp five spice powder
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1.5 tsp white pepper powder
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp coarse salt
• 2 tbsp rice wine
• pork belly (I used a frozen pork belly that’s 450g for 2 persons)

Method:

1. Add approximately 2cm of water into a pot that will fit your pork belly and bring to a boil
2. Once the water has boiled, place the pork belly skin side down into the boiling water for approximately 2 minutes. At this stage, we only want the skin to come into contact with the water.
3. After 2 minutes, take the pork belly out and make a few slices to the bottom part of the meat. This will help the meat to absorb the sauces later
4. Pat dry the pork skin and use a fork to pierce tiny holes into the skin. This will help the skin crisp up later
5. To marinate the pork, mix together the soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, white pepper powder and five spice powder
6. Place the pork belly on a sheet of aluminum foil and brush the sauce onto the meet of the pork belly. Be careful not to brush the sauce onto the skin
7. Fold the aluminum foil to wrap around the whole pork belly exposing only the skin

1. Add two tbsp of water into the baking soda and brush a few layers of this mixture onto the skin. This will allow the skin to become softer and crispier
2. Place the marinated pork belly into the fridge for up to six hours allowing the pork to marinate in the sauce (I placed mine in the fridge for approximately four hours)
3. Remove the pork belly from the fridge and pat the skin dry
4. Use a fork to pierce the skin again and brush on a few layers of white vinegar
5. Cover the skin with a thick layer of coarse salt
6. Place the aluminum foil wrapped pork belly into a preheated air fryer at 190 degrees for 15 minutes
7. After 15 minutes, take the pork belly out and scrape off the salt. Place the pork belly back into the air fryer at 200 degrees for another 15 minutes.
8. Chop into pieces and serve with a side of mustard (if you like)!

Notes:

• Exercise caution when piercing the skin of the pork belly, making sure to avoid penetrating into the underlying fat and meat as much as possible.
• As you chop the pork belly, be mindful of the juices that may spill. It is crucial to prevent the juices from coming into contact with the crispy skin, as this can result in it becoming soggy.

Hope you will also give this recipe a try. For more recipes, please visit my recipe page here.