I'm excited
to tell you about having finally cracked cooking a Pork Belly that was crispy skinned and at the same time the meat
was perfectly tender.
I have done
a variety of pork belly dishes before – Roast
Pork Belly with Orange and Cloves, BBQ
Pork Belly, Pork
and Mango, Sweet
and Sour Pork
But this
time the dish was not only simple to do with not many ingredients at all – but
it was quick too!
I had 1
kilo of boneless pork belly which the butcher scored for me. It was in one piece.
The first
thing I did was boil a kettle and then poured the boiling water over the
skin. I then dried the skin side as well
as I could and then pricked the skin with the point of a sharp knife (the
boiling water apparently tightens the skin up which helps it crisp up later –
who knew!)
I then
turned the meat over and slashed it across ways and down ways – quite deeply –
not right through to the skin but almost to it.
This is what helped the meat to cook properly in the time that it took
the skin to crackle.
I then
rubbed the meat side with cracked pepper and garlic oil – you could use fresh
garlic if your tummy tolerates it.
Turn it
over so that the skin side is up – and rub salt (quite a lot of salt) oever the
skin. Leave it in the fridge overnight
or for an hour or 2 (I did about 3 hours I think).
Ramp your
oven up to high and put the pork in a roasting tray on a rack – after patting
the skin dry with a paper towel.
After 1 and
a quarter hours the skin was crispy and the meat was perfectly tender – result!
This sounds amazing! And you're right about it not sounding to difficult. There's a number of things I never would of thought about like the boiling water or cutting it that deep for even cooking. I'll definitely be giving this a try!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried to cook a pork belly -- sounds like you got it right!
ReplyDeleteGlad you finally got one just the way you wanted it. It sounds good!
ReplyDeletethe water thing is similar to the way one makes crispy pork skins - this sounds amazing! Love crispy pork skin!
ReplyDeleteGlad this worked out! Is there a vegetarian version? lol
ReplyDeleteI haven't ever eaten pork belly, glad you figured out a way to get the best of it
ReplyDeleteHappy cooking
Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out