Happy Lunar New Year! 2021 is the year of the Ox, an animal that is valued in asian culture. In Vietnam, an Ox is a hardworking animal usually found working alongside a farmer by helping him plough through rice fields during harvest season. Symbolically, an Ox is described as honest, hard working, humble and intelligent. Men born in the year of the Ox are reliable and trustworthy but can be borderline arrogant (with little room for flexibility). Women born in the year of the Ox are calm and gentle but can be stubborn and react or think quickly to situations.
In celebration of Luna New Year, I am showing you how to make this restaurant favourite at home, best enjoyed with rice and veggies.
*Good To Know*
- What type of pork should I use?
For best results in a golden, crispy skin and juicy meat, the best cut of meat is a pork belly (aka. side pork belly) with skin on. Choose one with 80% meat and 20% fat. Usually, you can buy this type of cut at your local Asian grocery store from the butcher counter or meat refrigerator. Roast time will vary depending if you buy a pork belly with or without bone. - How long should I marinate the pork belly?
The key to roasting a very good, crackling skin is to have a dry, salted skin. In order to achieve this, the pork needs to marinate for at least 12 hours (minimum) or up to 24 hours (for the best result). - What is rice cooking wine used for?
Used widely in Asian dishes, this rice wine is a popular cooking liquid (made from fermented glutinous rice) that enhances or intensifies flavour and aroma in food. It’s salted alcohol and can be used much like other wines, such as red and white wine in other cuisines.
Ingredients you will need for this recipe:
- Pork belly (or side pork belly) with 80% meat, 20% fat and skin on. Bone or boneless both work.
- Shao Hsing rice cooking wine
- Spices / seasoning: sea salt, brown sugar, five spice, soy sauce
- Produce: garlic, onion
A cold pork belly will help you “poke” the skin with a wooden skewer more quickly because the solid fat on the meat holds the meat and skin in place. You can also use the tip of a sharp paring knife but be careful not to pierce the skin past the fat layer into the meat. This will introduce moisture to the skin and lower your chances of getting it to crispen up.
Clean your pork belly by rinsing it under cold water. Use the sharp edge of a knife and scrape the pork skin as clean as possible, but be careful not to cut the skin.
Here’s where the fun begins! Pat the entire pork belly dry with paper towels and use the pointed part of a wooden (or metal skewer) to poke as many holes into the skin as you can (try to poke just the skin, not all the way through to the fat layer). Make sure to poke the entire surface of the skin. Doing so will help the skin layer absorb sea salt better, resulting in drier skin for you to roast it to a crackling perfection. Dip a clean sheet of paper towel into 1 Tbsp Shao Hsing cooking wine to absorb and use this to rub all over skin (it adds flavour and helps clean the skin after we’ve poked it).
Combine diced onion, minced garlic, brown sugar, five spice, Shao Hsing cooking wine and soy sauce in a medium mixing bowl. Wrap the bottom of the pork belly with a large sheet of Aluminum foil by creating a foil “boat”, pinching the ends together and leaving the skin exposed. Pour the marinade on each side of the boat, avoiding the skin. Gently massage or move the marinade around to cover the meat side, and then press the sides together as close to the meat as you can. Use a sheet of paper towel, dip it into the Shao Hsing wine, and rub it all over the skin. Sprinkle sea salt evenly on the skin and place pork belly into a large baking dish. Make sure the exposed skin side is stretched as flat as possible while marinating (this ensures even roasting). Place into the refrigerator and marinate for at least 12 hours. For best results, marinate for 24h to give the skin enough time to dry.
Roast it at 300°F for 1 hour (or longer if it’s bone-in) to cook the pork belly. Make sure to place your rack on the lower-middle shelf in the oven so that the skin is not exposed to intense heat. This will reduce the skin from crispening up before the meat is fully cooked. I love using a food thermometer because it takes out the guesswork and allows me to gauge when the meat is done without having to cut into it. For medium to medium-well done meat you want the internal temperature to be between 135°F to 145°F.
Crank up the oven heat to 450°F and roast the belly for another 30 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and crispy with light bubbles formed. Rest the pork on a cutting board for 10 minutes and then cut it into slices. (Remove it off the bone first if you are using a bone-in pork belly).
Enjoy the pork with rice and vegetables of your choice!
Crispy Roasted Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds Pork Belly, bone in (or boneless)
- 1 Tablespoon shao hsing rice cooking wine
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Marinade
- ½ cup yellow onion (1/2 large onion), diced
- 2 teaspoon garlic (4 cloves), minced
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon five spice powder
- 2 Tablespoons shao hsing rice cooking wine
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper (optional), or ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Marinate
- Rinse pork under cold water, scrape skin with knife (careful not to cut skin) to clean and pat dry with paper towels.
- Poke holes into skin in an even layer (without piercing through to fat layer) with a wooden skewer or the tip of a sharp paring knife. Dip corner of a paper towel sheet into shao hsing wine and wipe over pork skin. Sprinkle sea salt evenly on skin.
- In a medium mixing bowl stir together onion, garlic, five spice, brown sugar, shao hsing wine and soy sauce.
- Place pork on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Wrap the meat portion of the pork belly (leave the skin exposed) by creating a foil 'boat' and pinching the ends together. Carefully, pour marinade into the foil boat on each side (without touching the skin) and gently massage / swivel the marinade to cover the meat. Press together the sides to keep meat wrapped as tight as possible while leaving the skin exposed. Place it into a baking dish (or a container) that fits the meat snuggly. Put the dish into your refrigerator to marinate for 24 hours (for best results) and to give the skin enough time to dry completely. This is what will make it crispy.
Roast
- Preheat oven to 300°F (176.7°C). Place a roasting rack into a 9 x 13 baking dish lined with aluminum foil (or use a roasting pan with a rack). Pat the pork belly dry with paper towels and wipe away excess salt on the skin. Add pork belly on top of the rack and place it in the oven on the lower-middle shelf. Roast meat undisturbed for 1 hour.
- If you notice moisture on the pork belly skin, use paper towels to wipe away the excess moisture (this is important to get the skin crackling). Do this quickly as you do not want to lose too much oven heat. Close oven door and increase the temperature to 450°F (232.°C). Roast pork belly for another 30 to 45 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy. A food thermometerhttps://amzn.to/3W2WtSq comes in really handy to check for meat doneness. The internal temperature for medium to medium-well pork meat is between 135°F to 145°F. If the skin is already brown, but the meat is not fully cooked, loosely place a sheet of aluminum on top of the pork skin to avoid further burning while waiting for the meat to reach desired doneness.
- Allow meat to rest for 10 minutes on a cutting board, so the skin has a chance to cool and crisp up more as well as let the meat reabsorb some of the juices. Separate ribs from the meat (if you used a bone-in pork belly), then chop meat into bite-sized pieces. I like to flip the pork over on its skin and cut through the meat to make it easier to chop down on the crispy skin. Enjoy roasted pork with hoisin dipping sauce and a side of rice with veggies.
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