This Crispy Pork Belly recipe is marinated in Asian flavors, then roasted with a salt crust for crispy skin and tender meat. No scoring required!
Crispy pork belly is one of my new favorite foods for a variety of reasons:
- The crunchy skin
- The salty skin
- The ungodly tender meat
- It’s usually dirt cheap
- Its low-maintance
These are all the reasons that I’m sure you’re going to love it as well. If you’ve never had it before, pork belly is the same cut of pig that bacon is made from. Cooked low and slow, the fat slowly melts into the meat, leaving behind tender meat that practically melts in your mouth.
It’s incredibly easy- all you do is marinate it for awhile, sky the skin, top it with salt and then slow roast it for a couple hours. Not only does this make it a great dinner option, it makes a FANTASTIC party appetizer- you have the ability to prepare a lot of it at once without a lot of hands-on muss and fuss, leaving yourself open to do other things.
As far as meat goes, it’s also on the cheaper side- about $3/lb or less. When shopping for your meat, make sure that you ask for a piece that has a decent amount of meat on it- some pieces can be mostly fat, not leaving you with much to eat when you’re done.
How to Make Crispy Pork Belly
Now let’s talk about the salt crust. I’ve prepared this a few different ways over the past couple of years- you can score the skin (a necessity, or the skin will pucker while cooking and be very difficult to cut) or do a salt crust. Although perhaps a salt crust sounds as though it might be complicated or leave your food crazy salty, I’m here to assure you that neither is true. Doing a salt crust simply involves spreading a large amount of salt over the surface of your meat, then removing it after a couple of hours. It will lift off in one nice, solid piece, leaving behind a nicely seasoned skin. If you have any salt stragglers, just brush it off.
Both methods work; in fact, I cut my pork in half and prepared each half differently. Both pieces turned out deliciously, but I think I may have preferred the salt crust preparation just a little more. If you’re uncomfortable attempting the salt crust, you’ll have perfectly fine results with by scoring the skin. If you’re scoring the skin, rub it with a little sesame oil and season with salt before baking.
Either way, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT, make sure the skin is dry before it goes into the oven. This is absolutely essential, or the skin will basically turn into leather. When you are marinating the meat, do so in the fridge so that the skin is exposed to air and the marinade does not reach the skin. Overnight is best here, but you can get away with 4 hours.
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What you’ll need for this recipe:
- Baking dish- These [easyazon_link identifier=”B00N1BYMLS” locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Glass Baking Dishes[/easyazon_link] are great for using to marinade your pork overnight.
- Half sheet pan- This [easyazon_link identifier=”B000G0KJG4″ locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Baker’s Half Sheet[/easyazon_link] is great for any kind of cooking. You’ll get some great use out of it!
- Wire rack- I recommend using a [easyazon_link identifier=”B00OY91N90″ locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Baking Rack[/easyazon_link] for cooking your pork and easier clean up!
- Basting brush- This [easyazon_link identifier=”B015COKN5A” locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]Silicone Basting Brush[/easyazon_link] will come in handy for spreading sauces in your recipes!
If you like this Crispy Pork Belly recipe, check these out:
- Pernil, Puerto Rican Slow Roasted Pork
- BBQ Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
- Blackened Pork Belly with Mango Pineapple Slaw
Crispy Asian Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sauce rice wine
- 2 T oyster Sauce
- 2 T dark brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic pressed
- 1 tsp sesame oil plus more for rubbing
- 2 lb pork belly
- 1 cup salt
Instructions
- Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, oyster sauce, sugar, garlic, and oil; stir to combine.Dry the skin of the pork belly.
- Add the pork belly to a baking dish or pan that can accommodate the pork and marinade. Pour marinade into the pan, making sure the level stays below the skin. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Heat oven to 300F. Line a half sheet pan with foil and set a wire rack inside the pan.
- Remove the pork from the marinade and dry the skin well if any moisture appears. Spread the cup of salt over the skin. Cook in the oven for 2 hours. Remove the salt crust and any salt that remains behind with a basting brush.
- Increase the oven temperature to 450F. Return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the skin is golden and crispy. Slice and serve.
Sandra says
Looks delicious and I’d love to try it. Would you please clarify the exact amounts of soy sauce and rice wine? Thanks!
Jacqueline says
It should say 1/4 cup each. Thanks for calling it to my attention!
Ava says
What do you mean by Sauce Rice Wine? Is that Rice Wine Vinegar or a Rice Wine?
Jacqueline says
It’s rice wine. I think the sauce is there because I had just typed “soy sauce” above! Haha.
Christopher Tierney says
What is the oven temperature and for how long?
Jacqueline says
Hi Christoper! Sorry for the delay- there was an error in coding that was causing the recipe to not show up. It’s all fixed now!
Ginidalts says
This is the BEST pork belly recipe I have ever cooked. So easy, the crackling was amazing and the flavour fantastic. My 12 year old daughter loved it and I will definintely cook it again. Thank you.
Kirk says
Trying this now on a much larger piece of belly. I tripled the recipe. I’ll let you know how it goes.