1.2kg (2.6 lb) skin-on pork belly
1 tbsp sea salt
Spring onion & ginger sauce:
1 cup finely sliced spring onion (scallions)
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1½ tsp sea salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
Quick garlic chilli oil:
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
4 cardamom pods
½ cup neutral-tasting oil (e.g. peanut, rice bran, vegetable or canola)
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ cup Asian chilli powder*
1 tbsp sea salt
Start the day before you want to serve your pork. If you have a Chinese hole puncher (take a look at the video), use that to puncture holes all over the pork skin. Then use a Stanley/utility knife and a ruler to score the pork skin in a cross hatch pattern. Pat dry with paper towel.
Rub the 1 tablespoon of salt over the pork skin. Place in the fridge uncovered overnight.
In the meantime, to make the spring onion & ginger sauce, use a mortar and pestle to pound the spring onion, ginger and salt to a rough paste. Transfer to a heat-proof bowl.
Place the vegetable oil and sesame oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat until a wooden spoon dipped into the oil forms small little bubbles. Now pour the hot oil over the spring onion mixture. Stir to combine. Set aside for later.
For the quick garlic chilli oil, heat the star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns and cardmom pods in a dry wok or frying pan over high heat. Toss them around in the pan for a minute or until fragrant and just starting to smoke. Add the oil and allow the spices to sizzle in the oil for 10 seconds. Then add the garlic and stir and sizzle for another half a minute. Then stir through the chilli powder and salt. Remove from heat and store in jars.
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F. Take the pork out of the fridge. Pat dry with paper towel. To make sure the pork skin is super dry, you can use a hair dryer to blow hot air over the pork skin.
Place a wire cake rack onto a baking tray. Brush the rack with oil. Place the pork on the rack, skin side up. Roast in the oven for 90 minutes. Then turn the heat up to 240°C/460°F. Place the pork back in the oven to roast for an hour or until the skin is super crispy.
To serve, slice the pork belly and serve with the spring onion & ginger sauce and chilli oil.
Notes:
– For the chilli powder try to use a Chinese or Thai version that has both seeds, flakes and powder.
– Marion also tested this recipe in a Panasonic 3-in-1 Microwave Convection Oven (NN-CF770) using the same preparation and cooking times. Watch the series Marion’s Test Kitchen to find out more!
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