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Asian Inspired Crispy Pork Belly

Delicious juicy meat with a crispy top.

Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword baked, crispy meat, pork belly, protein, soy
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 1 slab pork belly a couple of lbs, not lean, skin on
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup salt enough to sprinkle over all sides of pork
  • 1/8 cup soy sauce or all purpose marinade marinade can be found at asian grocery stores

Instructions

  1. Use a paper towel to pat the pork dry. Using a sharp knife, score the skin side deeply. In the picture, we did holes this time instead of scoring but find that scoring produces better results. Overnight, cover the pork belly slab with salt, brown sugar, and a bit of the marinade. We use a plastic ziplock bag and seal it. I've seen some other recipes say to leave it out to dry it up, but the salt on the pork overnight causes some of the liquid to come out and leaves it still moist for cooking. 

  2. Prep the oven at 300F, take the pork out of the bag and pat it down again with a paper towel. We use a glass tray to cook, though you are welcome to put a foil down to catch the juices. I don't prefer it as it always feels like it cooks drier (you also don't want to cover the top with foil, otherwise the pork skin doesn't crisp up). Cook the pork for about an hour to an hour 30 minutes at this temperature.

  3. Check how the pork is doing, and if the meat portion is cooked through (if you have a thermometer, meat should be at about 145-160F), turn the oven to broil and the temperature up to the highest the oven will go (about 500F). Depending on your oven, the broiling may take 1 minute, or it could take 3-4 minutes. Keep checking to make sure you don't burn it! We tried this one time with a very old oven and it took less than a minute. Take out the pork belly, let it sit for a few minutes, and then slice it up. Slice the crispy skin away from the meat.

  4. Fry the sliced pieces of the pork and enjoy in fried rice, noodles or in a crepe!