Wednesday 7 August 2013

Chinese roast pork belly


Serves about 8-10

2kg pork belly
1 tablespoons salt
2 cubes of fermented red beancurd
1 tablespoons Chinese 5 spice powder
1 tablespoons coarse sea salt
1 tablespoons ground white pepper
Rice wine
Rice vinegar (for brushing over skin)

Equipment:
Meat pricker
Brush
Oven

1. Wash & dry the pork belly. On the meat side of the belly, slice it lengthwise about 1 inch in between. (or ask the butcher to do it for you). Do not go down into the skin.

2. Poke holes on the belly's skin using a meat pricker or tip of a sharp knife. Do not poke into the meat! Rub the salt onto skin evenly.

3. Mix the fermented red beancurd, Chinese 5 spice powder, sea salt and pepper and rice wine and apply the mixture on the underside of the meat, getting into the sliced parts.

4. Dry for 4 hours. (I put it in front of a fan but you can do it in the fridge, then wipe off any moisture if any before roasting)

5. Place meat into the oven at 200 degrees celsius.

6. Take out the meat after 45-50 minutes, and brush the skin with white vinegar.

8. Chuck the belly back in the oven and place it in the top layer at maximum heat (or the highest grill/broil setting) until skin chars. Be sure to watch it carefully. This doesn't take very long.

9. Remove from the oven and scrape off any charred bits.

10. Rest the meat for 20-30 minutes before chopping into big chunks, and serve.

* This recipe is adapted from the Meatmen. Check out their video here.

When I first made this, my meat had a really slightly bad porky taste. My mother later told me the butcher at the wet market I got it from was "no good" and he probably gave me the boar meat instead. Go to a pork seller that you trust and make sure you tell him what you're making. My mother recommended me another pork seller - my grandmother purchased pork from his father, and now my mother is purchasing from him. He even scores the meat for me!

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