RESTAURANT QUALITY Crispy Pork Belly!

Recipe: Crispy Pork Belly Recipe »

Dear Reader, this Crispy Pork Belly will be one of the best pork belly dinners you will ever make. It has a delicious spicy Asian style sauce with a crispy crunch and melting texture. This tastes like a restaurant quality crispy pork belly and that's because it comes from a fantastic restaurant where it is their signature dish. Don't sleep on this pork belly recipe, this is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!

The first time I tried this pork belly that thing happened when all of the taste receptors in your tongue hit all of the areas of the brain signalling a taste jackpot. It was like all the slot machines had gone off in Vegas. Is that weird? That definitely happens to me when I eat something that I absolutely love. It was at Humbug restaurant, one of the most popular restaurants in Newcastle. I didn't think that chef Mike Portley would share the recipe for this pork belly because it is one of their signature dishes but he was kind enough to and truly it is every bit as delicious as it is in their restaurant. For Newcastle Food Month Humbug are holding a street food fiesta on April 14 from 3:00 pm - 9:00 pm.

Sometimes crispy Asian style pork belly can be a bit dry but this one isn't whatsoever; it's completely unctuous and luscious. I won't tell you that it's a quick and easy recipe but it is straight forward. It's just best done over 2 days because the pork belly is first steamed and then fried and dipped into an incredibly lip smacking sauce.

Tips For Making This Asian Style Crispy Pork Belly

1 - This pork belly recipe is twice cooked. The first day is all about steaming the pork belly and then refrigerating it. This is super easy and a 1.1kg/2.4 lbs pork belly fits perfectly into the Thermomix steamer. Alternatively, if you don't have a large steamer you can place the pork in a slow cooker on low setting for 6-8 hours. Once the pork belly is chilled it is much easier to work with and slice up.

2 - In a pinch if you are in a hurry you can steam the pork belly early in the morning and then refrigerate until firm and then slice in the evening.

3 - The crunchy pork crackling is actually very easy to achieve provided that you dry out the pork out in the oven for 6 hours. This is crucial to ensure that the belly crisps up and bubbles, otherwise the crackling will be sticky. Mike says that you may be able to dry out the pork skin in the fridge but I think this would take 1-2 days to dry out uncovered in the fridge. I've also seen people dry out the pork belly skin with a hair dryer but I've never tried this. Also make sure to scrape off any fat off the bottom of the skin with a sharp knife as this is what makes the crackling sticky on your teeth.

4 - You can serve the pork belly slices in lettuce cups or you can chop up the pork belly into pieces and then toss it in the sauce and serve it with the herbs as part of a banquet dinner. Serving it in lettuce cups makes it crunchier and lighter but if you're looking to serve it as a main it is absolutely delicious with steamed rice.

• Other Pork Belly Recipes You Might Like:
• NEVERFAIL Pork Belly
• Ginger Pork Belly in the rice cooker
• Japanese Kakuni Pork Belly
• Pork Belly Porchetta
• Mille-Feuille Nabe Hot Pot

I woke up very early this morning in a panic. I was going to the Central Coast for a little getaway with Monica because she is moving Italy in a month's time and although I was super busy, I wanted to take the time to spend with her. But this truncated week meant that I had half a day to make sure that I had all of my blog posts lined up. I had three to finish off and half a day was simply not enough time. I rushed downstairs while Mr NQN was still asleep upstairs and I made a cup of tea and started a new recipe. It had 4 hours in the slow cooker and that didn't leave me a lot of time to write it up. I had already tested it but this was going to be the beauty shot so everything had to look perfect.

I seared the meat and then let it to cook and then sat on my computer for hours busily writing. A lot of work goes into each blog post especially recipe posts so a few hours later Mr NQN woke from his slumber. I reminded him that I had an event that night to go to and then he said, "Isn't that tomorrow night?".

And you know that feeling, not the one where you eat something delicious and your brain does a happy synapse firing jackpot leap? My brain was doing another thing, that feeling where you realised that you actually didn't realise what day it was and the calendar in your mind flips from day to day and hour to hour! That it was an actual day before and I had an extra day. Which was a relief to me, but I wish I had realised it earlier.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever get the day wrong? Does you ever get that "jackpot" feeling when you eat something super tasty?

Crispy Pork Belly

Adapted from Chef Mike Portley

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours + 30 minutes + overnight drying

Serves: 4-6 people as part of a banquet

This recipe is best made over 2 days

Slow cooked pork belly & crackling

• 1.1kg/2.4 lbs pork belly, boneless, skin on
• 18g/0.6ozs fine salt

Pork sauce

• 100g/3.5ozs Italian style chilli paste like Bippi (mild or hot, I recommend a blend of the two)
• 80g/2.8ozs brown sugar
• 40g/1.4ozs oyster sauce

To Assemble

• 2 x baby cos heads, washed, dried
• 1/2 bunch Thai basil
• 1/2 bunch Vietnamese mint
• 1/2 bunch coriander
• 2 x green shallots, sliced finely
• 100g/3.5ozs roasted salted peanut, chopped finely (“kibbled”)

• 100g/3.5ozs good aioli or kewpie mayo (optional)

• 60ml/2flozs fish sauce

• 1/2 cup/75g/2.6ozs rice flour

Step 1 - Start this recipes 2 days ahead. Using a sharp knife, lightly score the skin on your pork belly in a diamond pattern around 2mm/0.08inches apart. Rub the salt firmly into the skin of the pork belly and refrigerate or leave covered at room temperature for up to 2 hours for the salt to penetrate the skin. Wipe off any excess salt and moisture with paper towels.

Step 2 - Place a steamer basket above a large pot of water. Steam the pork on medium heat for 2 hours. Thermomix: 2 hours/Varoma/speed #1. The pork should be tender, but not falling apart. Wipe the skin dry again and place in the refrigerator to completely cool.

Step 3 - Once the pork is cool, remove the skin by running a sharp knife all the way around the edge of the skin. Use a table spoon with the cup side up and run the spoon under the skin to separate it from the belly, leaving all the fat intact on the belly. Scrape any excess fat off the skin and discard the fat. Dry the skin out in a dehydrator, or in the oven on a low temp (55-60C/131-140F degrees) overnight or for 8 hours. In a pinch, you can dry it as best you can in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Step 4 - Slice the dried skin into smaller pieces to deep fry. Heat your oil to 190C/374F and fry the skin, skin side down for 4-5 minutes, fully submerged, until puffy and fully dried. Drain well of excess oil and roughly cut up, I find scissors works well here.

Step 5 - Mix ingredients for pork sauce together into a bowl and place the fish sauce in one bowl and the rice flour in another. Trim the pork belly into a rectangular shape, then cut rectangles about 1cm/0.4inch thick (about 50g/1.7ozs pieces is good). Heat fryer oil to 175C/347F. Toss pork belly pieces through the fish sauce, drain slightly, then toss through rice flour to coat. Fry your pork belly pieces in batches until deep golden around 3 minutes or so on each side. Drain on paper towels.

Step 6 - Arrange your lettuce cups. Put your largest and firmest leaves of cos underneath with softer inner leaves on top. Pipe in some aioli and arrange a generous amount of your herb mix on top. Dip the pork slices into the pork sauce and place 1 piece of pork belly per cup. Top with chopped up crackling and peanuts.