Pork Belly

This Pork Belly turned out to be my best yet – crispy skin yet meltingly tender meat – just fabulous!

The first thing is to heat up an aromatic mixture of maple syrup, a mandarin quartered and squished, cloves, cumin seeds, soy sauce, ½ a green chilli, chilli flakes, a piece of cassia bark and ½ teaspoon of Sichuan pepper.

Once this has got hot – just let it cool.

While it is cooling, score the skin of your pork belly with a sharp knife.

Stud the meat side of the belly with cloves (say 8 or 9).  

Then get a non-reactive container and pop some fresh oregano and a bay leaf on the bottom.  Add your cooled mixture and then pop your pork belly on top with the skin side on top.  It is important that the mixture comes most of the way up the side of the pork but doesn't touch the fat/skin at the top.

My mix didn't come far enough up so I topped it up with white wine.

Salt the skin side well, rubbing the salt into the cracks.

Cover all this and leave it in the fridge for at least 5 to 6 hours.  Don't skip this step!

Cook it in a very low oven for 5 to 6 hours.  Then take it out and let it rest on the bench while you heat the oven all the way up to hot, hot.  Put the pork belly back in for 15 to 20 minutes – or until the skin is nicely crispy.