Chinese crispy pork belly

Name: Chinese crispy pork belly
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 kg pork belly with skin on; 1 white vinegar; 1/2 tbsp salt; 2 tsp sugar; 1 tsp ginger powder; 1 tsp 5 spice powder; 1/2 tsp chicken bullion powder; 1 1/2 tsp sesame paste (or peanut butter); 1/4 tsp sesame oil; 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine (or water); 1 tbsp fermented bean paste (optional)

RiceCake @RiceCake

Best results when drying in fridge for 2 days before cooking.

Perfectly cooked and juicy meat, but only the very thin top layer of skin was crispy, the rest was still gelatinous. Perhaps needs to be baked at higher temp without salt on top so that the skin crisps by the end of cooking.

Best results when drying in fridge for 2 days before cooking.

RiceCake @RiceCake

Best results when drying in fridge for 2 days before cooking.

Saved

Ingredients

1 kgpork belly with skin on
1white vinegar
Pork meat marinade
1/2 tbspsalt
2 tspsugar
1 tspginger powder
1 tsp5 spice powder
1/2 tspchicken bullion powder
1 1/2 tspsesame paste (or peanut butter)
1/4 tspsesame oil
1 tbspShaoxing wine (or water)
1 tbspfermented bean paste (optional)

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Steps

1

Poke a couple hundred shallow holes in skin with a meat tenderizer or toothpicks/skewers.
2

Blanch pork in boiling water for about 3-5minutes, then move pork to a bowl of very cold water for 2-5 min. Before removing from cold water, use a sharp knife to scrape any impurities/hair off the skin. Rinse and then dry with paper towel.
3

Poke more holes in the skin, ensuring the entire surface has holes evenly across it. This helps with crisping skin later.
4

Cut very shallow crisscross pattern into MEAT SIDE of the belly, so that the meat rub will have more surface area to marinade.
5

Combine ingredients for marinade, mix well, and then rub into the meat side. Be careful not to get on the skin, or the skin will burn.
6

Flip the belly over, and cover the skin with a thin layer of salt. Wait 5min until salt is wet, and then remove ALL of the salt. Wipe skin with paper towel.
7

Find a tray or baking sheet large enough to hold the pork belly. Use a brush to brush white vinegar all over the skin. Place the tray, uncovered, into fridge for 48hrs.
8

About 2hr before you want to eat, turn on the oven to convection at 350F.
9

While oven is preheating, use 2 layers of aluminum foil to tightly wrap around the bottom (meat) and sides of the belly.
10

Once oven is heated, place wrapped belly on a cooking rack over a cookie sheet, and roast for about 25-30min (until internal temp about 150F).
11

Turn oven to 450F (convection mode if available) and set your oven rack in the middle. Place the pork belly back in the oven on middle rack, and turn on the oven light. It should take about 15-30min to get the skin bubbly/crispy and internal temp to about 200F. Keep a close eye on it for last 10min because it can go from perfect to burnt very quickly.
12

When the skin is nice and brown and puffy, remove from oven. Take belly out of foil and let it rest on cutting board for 30-60min. Once rested, cut into bite sized pieces (easier to cut with skin side down) and enjoy!