Chinese Roast Pork
Chinese Roast Pork
"Chinese roast pork can feel very intimidating to make but with some pre-planning and prepping, most of the work is done by the oven and a little patience." - Chef Rebekah Lagua, Senior Chef de Cuisine
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
- .5 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 2 pounds Pork belly, boneless, skin-on
- .5 teaspoon White Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Salt, divided
- 1 tablespoon Neutral oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together Chinese five spice, garlic powder and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Lay the pork belly skin side down and rub the dry seasoning into the meat side only.
- Flip the pork belly over and wipe off the skin as much as possible with a clean dry paper towel. Using another paper towel, pat the skin dry.
- Next poke as many holes as you can into the skin, using a sharp metal cooking needle or a bunch of wooden skewers. This is the key to having a Chinese roast pork belly with crispy crackling.
- Wrap aluminum foil around the base and the sides of the pork leaving the skin open and uncovered. Do not create a tall edge with your foil. Create a short edge enough that you can pick up the sides. If you create a tall edge the oven heat will not reach the skin evenly, resulting in a non-crispy skin.
- After wrapping the pork belly in foil, dry it again with a clean paper towel.
- Brush pork skin with a light coat of white vinegar. Do not drench pork in vinegar. The vinegar helps to remove moisture. Then evenly and lightly sprinkle sea salt over the top of the pork.
- Bake at 225℉ for 60 minutes. Your skin will not puff up here so do not worry if you do not see it crackle.
- Remove from oven and evenly brush a thin coat of oil onto the skin. Then bake again at 400℉ for 40 minutes. The pork skin will start to puff up and crackle. Monitor this process around the 35-minute mark and check for golden crispy crackled skin. If you do not see it, continue baking until you do. The pork belly is a very forgiving cut of meat and will stay moist.
- Once you see the crackled puffy skin, remove pork from the oven, and let it rest for 10 minutes so the juices go back into the meat. You can leave it in the foil or remove it and place it on your chopping board.
- When chopping, flip it over so it is skin side down. Hold the pork firm with your dominant hand and with a very sharp heavy knife slice the meat down firmly. Then pause before you reach the skin, and with two hands slice down. This ensures a smooth slice.
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