Hear the crunch of the ultimate crisp pork crackling when you slice into Marion’s amazing roasted pork belly. Add a slaw of apple, Chinese cabbage, coriander and chilli as a fresh, crisp side to complement the delicious pork.
1 kg (about 2 lb) skin-on pork belly
sea salt
vegetable oil
Asian slaw:
1 green apple, cut into thin matchsticks
3 cups finely shredded Chinese cabbage (wombok)
½ cup coriander (cilantro) leaves
1 long red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp caster sugar
First up, you need to prepare the pork belly…this is a crucial step to achieve crispy crackling. Pat dry your pork belly with paper towel. Take a very sharp knife (a sharp utility or stanley knife works well) and cut lines across the pork skin about 1 cm apart. You want to cut through the skin and but only a couple of millimeters into the fat underneath. Now rub the skin with about a tablespoon of salt. Sit your pork belly on a baking tray and chill in the fridge (uncovered) for at least 2 hours (overnight is even better).
Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F.
Pat dry the pork skin with paper towel. Rub the skin with a little oil and sprinkle with a little extra salt. Place the pork belly skin side down in a roasting dish. Top with baking paper and place an oven-proof weight on top (a cast iron pan or a heavy casserole dish will work well). Roast the pork belly for 1 hour. Then remove the weight and baking paper and turn pork belly over so it is skin-side up. Roast for a further 10 minutes.
For the Asian slaw, mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Slice pork and serve with slaw.
