Crispy roast pork belly

Ever wanted to recreate the magic of crispy Asian pork belly at home? Keep reading! With tender meat, incredible crackling and a dipping sauce of coconut sugar, star anise, ginger and chilli, this recipe is the perfect centrepiece for a dinner party or Asian banquet.

Crispy roast pork belly Credit: Brett Stevens

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  2:10 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1½ kg pork belly, boneless and skin scored
• 2 tsp salt flakes
• 1 tsp white peppercorns
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 tbsp salt flakes
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• ⅓ cup water
• 2 star anise
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 small red chillies, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• ¼ cup lime juice
• fried shallots, coriander leaves and julienned chilli, to garnish
• steamed rice and Asian greens, to serve

You will need to begin this recipe 1 day ahead of time.

Chilling time 1 day

Instructions

Rub the pork belly rind with 2 teaspoon salt flakes and place on a tray, refrigerate uncovered overnight to dry rind. The next day, pat rind dry and brush of any remaining salt.

Preheat oven 200°C.

Crush the white peppercorns in a mortar and pestle, mix through Chinese five-spice and 1 tablespoon salt flakes.

Rub pork rind well with the salt mixture and sesame oil, place rind side down in a baking dish and bake for 1 hour. Turn pork over, reduce to 180°C and cook for another 1 hour or until tender.

While pork is cooking, combine coconut sugar and water in a saucepan, stir over medium heat until dissolved. Bring to boil, add star anise, ginger, chilli, soy, fish sauce and lime juice and simmer for 10 minutes or until syrupy.

Slice pork and serve drizzled with sauce, sprinkle over fried shallot, coriander and chilli.

Serve with steamed rice and Asian greens.

Photography by Brett Stevens. Styling by Justine Poole. Art direction by Anne Marie Cummins.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.