Roasted Pork Belly With Crackling

I have posted on roasted pork belly before but I'm posting on it again because this method gives even better results than the previous recipe. I think I have finally nailed roasted pork belly, right down to the crackling.

What I did differently this time was 1) cranked the oven temperature as high as it can go, upto 270 C with the fan on for one hour. It smoked up the house and the oven (hate cleaning greasy ovens so making roasted pork with crackling will be limited to very special occasions) and I advise you not to do it in a very enclosed house or one which is not well-ventilated. According to my butcher, the best crackling is made the traditional way, in an open coal fire built inside a large oil drum set in the open so that the smoke will dissipate easily. Like baking a pizza in a wood fired oven, the heat from an intense coal fire will puff the skin more than in an oven that can only go up to 270 C. 2) removed the rib bones so that the slab of pork can lay flat, thereby making sure that the heat hits the pork skin evenly. 3) used plenty of Maldon sea salt all over the skin. Plenty means the salt is very visible. 4) 'brined' the pork in cider vinegar for about 7 hours before roasting, to tenderize the meat, as taught by my friend Yoland.



Roasted Pork Belly With Crackling
4 to 4.5 kg medium lean pork belly, washed, skin shaved, bones removed
Maldon sea salt, plenty
3 T fresh chopped mixed hurbs such as tarragon, oregano, rosemary, sage
freshly ground black or white pepper
Cider vinegar (I used Braggs)

1. Place the pork belly, meat side up, on a large cutting board and rub salt and white pepper all over. Carefully turn pork over onto a large ceramic plate (the skin side up), then pour the cider vinegar all around the pork. Lift the pork up to let the vinegar seep under the pork so that the meat gets soaked in the vinegar. Pour enough vinegar to soak the pork upto 1 cm all around. Smear cider vinegar (I used the vinegar in the tray) all over the skin.
2. Put the plate of pork into the fridge, uncovered. The idea is to let the skin dry. Not too dry, or the skin will give crispy but hard crackling. I left my 4.5 kg pork belly on the third rack of my fridge for 5 hours, then poured away the vinegar because I didn't want the meat to be sour and returned the pork to the fridge for another 2 hours to dry. In between, dry the pork skin with paper towels if the skin looks wet.
3. Switch oven on, and fan on too (or off. Fan on will distribute the heat n crisp the skin better but it also fans oil all over the oven walls), to at least 250 C or preferably 270 C, about 15 minutes before putting the pork in.
4. Using a sharp knife, or a metal skewer, stab the pork skin all over, the more piercings the better. When done, use paper towels to dab dry the skin. Turn the pork over, and rub the herbs all over. If doing it Chinese way, rub a mixture of 5 spice powder and fermented red bean curd (nam yue) all over the meat.
5. Place the pork  directly on an oven rack in the middle of the oven, skinside up and sprinkle lots of sea salt all over the skin, making sure every inch of the skin is covered with salt, salt that is visible. Place a tray at the bottom rack position under the rack of pork and add enough water into the tray upto 1 cm to catch drippings (I didn't do this, I think this will help) and prevent smoking.
6. Roast the pork belly, skin side up, for 1 hour 10 to 15 minutes, with oven fan on. Very carefully, and with kitchen mittens, take the belly out of the oven and using a knife, scrape the top layer of crackling over the kitchen sink to remove the salt and any burnt areas.
7. Cut cooled pork to pieces and serve with apple sauce. Saurkraut is good too, to balance the greasiness of the meat.