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Roasted Pork Belly : 脆皮燒肉

Servings: 6
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients
  

  • 8 x 8 inch pork belly about 2 pounds
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Seasoning mixture, use one of the below options:
  • 1 small package of Chinese 4 season powder and ½ teaspoon five spice powder OR
  • 2 tablespoons Chinese ginger power
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon chicken base
  • 2 tablespoons water

Equipment

  • Air Fryer

Method
 

  1. After cleaning the pork belly, use a paper towel and pat the meat until completely dry.
  2. Flip pork belly to skin side, use meat tenderizer or a sharp knife/fork to punch small holes all over the skin (this is a very important step to achieve a crispy skin)
  3. With skin side down, soak in the white vinegar for 10 minutes or until most of the vinegar is absorbed. Meat side should face up.
  4. Using a sharp knife, carefully make 3 scores on the meat side of pork belly. Do not cut through the meat.
  5. Rub seasoning mixture over the meat side. Do not rub any on the skin side.
  6. In a container, place the meat face down and skin face up to air dry pork belly in the refrigerator for 3 days.
  7. After 3 days, pork belly should shrink to 8 x 6 inches.
  8. Before cooking, bring the pork belly to room temperature for 1-2 hours.
  9. Use meat tenderizer or a sharp fork to punch more holes on skin.
  10. Brush red wine vinegar on top of skin and let it dry for 20 minutes.
  11. Pre-heat air-fryer to 400 degrees for 5 minutes.
  12. Reduce to 350 degrees and roast pork belly for 30 minutes.
  13. Turn heat back up to 400 degrees and continue to cook pork belly for another 10 minutes or longer if you want it to have more golden brown color.
  14. Rest the meat for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Notes

You can marinade and freeze the pork belly for up to a month. Put the pork belly in the refrigerator to defrost it for a day with skin face up. Follow steps to roast pork belly. Here is a link to a demo on YouTube. The ingredients are slightly different.