Recipe : Crispy Skin Pork
Deep inside, everyone has to have a soft spot for some crackling off a piece of roast pork. Regardless of the copious amounts of fat and calories in each crunch, it justs tastes too good to refuse.
So inspired by the glorious weather and a craving for some crispy skin pork, Linda and I made it our mission to re-create one of our restaurant favourites. With help from Linda’s mum’s secret marinade recipe and accounts of different peoples trials and tribulations on how to achieve the ideal crackling effect of the pork skin, we were motivated to conjour up our own creation.
Crispy skin Pork
Ingredients
- 1 kg Pork belly
- Bowl of boiling water (to assist in the crackling process)
- Olive oil
- Sea salt or table salt
1kg Pork Belly with the skin scored with a knife
The Marinade
- 2 cloves garlic , chrushed
- 3 tbspn sugar
- 2 tbspn soy sauce
- 2 tbspn char siu sauce
- 1 teaspon 5 spice powder
- Pepper to taste
Mortar and Pestle ... a must have for every kitchen
- With a knife, score the skin of the pork so that it is evenly distributed
- Put the pork in a strainer and poor the boiling water carefully onto the skin of the pork
- Pat the pork dry, especially the skin and let it cool while you make the marinade below
- Add all the marinade ingredients into a mortar and pestle and grind carefully until it turns into a paste like substance. If you dont have a mortar and pestle, feel free to use anything which is suitable for mixing all the ingredients into a marinade.
- Gently rub the marinade onto the pork (note : don’t marinate the skin of the pork , only the meat, as this will carimalise under the grill) and ensure the skin of the pork stays upright
- Allow to dry for at least 3 hours in room temperature. I actually let mine dry outside in the sun covered so no flies could get in. The more it dries, the more crispier the skin can get.
- Once done, put it in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees) for 30 – 45 minutes depending on the size of your pork belly.
- Once the pork is golden brown on the outside, take it out of the oven.
- Brush the skin on top of the pork sparingly with olive oil and then sprinkle a small amount of sea salt on top
- Put the pork under the grill / broiler and grill it until you can hear crackling sounds. Alternatively, grill until it crackles to your liking.
Prior to removing the pork belly from the grill, we were a little apprehensive about the final result. As this is the first time we have ever done anything like this, we wanted it to work. With each second that we peered into the grill, we grew more and more adamant that this is working our way. The sound of the pork skin crackling was like music to my ears. Never had I imagined that you can actually hear the cooking process.
After approximately 5 minutes under the grill, the pork was removed and left to rest.
Upon slicing up the piece of pork, juice was oozing from the pieces, highlighting the fact that the cooking process has helped retain the moisture, hence preventing it from drying out. The slightly sweet char siu flavoured meat combined with a thin buttery fatty layer contradicting the slightly salty crispy skin sends the senses into a gastronomical adventure.
Definitely a dish that we will be re-visiting, next time we’ll experiment with different marinades.
Author
By Howard
We started eatshowandtell in 2008, it was meant to be just a journal of where we ate. The first thing I usually do when I'm looking for a restaurant is check out eatability and the restaurant website. But what is usually missing is pictures of the food, how do I know I'm getting what I expect? This blog hopefully plugs that gap.
Follow howardtInformation
This article was written on 22 Sep 2008, and is filed under Chinese.
Current post is tagged
Recent articles
- Different Drummer, Glebe09 Feb 2012
- America! The Road Trip Part 303 Feb 2012
- Wasabi Bistro, Surry Hills31 Jan 2012
- Albee’s Kitchen, Cabramatta27 Jan 2012
- The Montpellier Public House, Randwick24 Jan 2012
- America! The Road Trip Part 220 Jan 2012
- Bar H, Surry Hills17 Jan 2012
- America! The Road Trip Part 113 Jan 2012
- The Everest Kitchen, Marrickville10 Jan 2012
- Mexican Pool Party05 Jan 2012
Recent comments
Who Are We?
Search eatshowandtell
Share
Sponsors
Categories
Creative Commons
Eat Show & Tell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License.
OHMYGOD. im so jealous. that looks absolutely fabulous! need any guinea pigs to taste test?
I think the crackle on Guinea Pigs is sub standard.
suze : I’ll definitely keep you in mind for next time! There are so many different marinades which can be used for this heh.
This looks divine! I love the top view pic of the pork belly-seeing that gorgeous crackling all bubbled up makes me so hungry!
Oh my goodness, this looks amazing!
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse
Lorraine : Thanks! I’ve finally taken out my 18-55mm lens which came with the camera, I kind of neglected it thinking it was no good. But the advantage is taking the over the top shots.
Jessie : Thanks for dropping by
. I have to try those herb crusted lamb ribs you posted they look awesome.
Howard, just wondering what type of camera and lens do you use? I really like the clarity of your shots
The 18-55 lens is definitely worth keeping around if you get shots like that 
Lorraine : For my posts , I use a Canon 450D with either a 50mm 1.8 or 18-55mm lens. I think I just get lucky with the lighting as well!
What camera do you use ? The clarity you get while getting real close to the food is awesome.
Oh cool, we use the same camera
We have 18-55mm lens.
Yes the lighting is soooo important. I hate using the camera’s flash and I can’t wait for daylight savings and being able to photograph food in natural light for longer. Nowadays I have to get the photos done before 3.30pm or I’ve lost the good light
It’s a nice camera isn’t it? Very light which is good to carry around.
Yeah I never use flash and like you said with daylight savings it’s going to be great. Which reminds me, the night noodle markets during daylight saving is going to be great for photos!
[...] tasty summer salad which can act as a side dish or even a main. A couple days ago I shared with you my rendition of crispy skin pork with crackling goodness, so I hope this recipe is just as popular for the Vege [...]
[...] of fried bacon bits; and our own twist on the usual bacon and egg. The main meal would consists of crackling skin pork and whole grilled salmon stuffed with bunches of fresh herbs served with home made tartare sauce. [...]
[...] posted the recipe over here a few months ago. This was a good piece of pork belly as there was a good balance of meat, fat [...]
Your roast pork look beautiful and delicious. I wonder if it is a good idea to cook for Christmas inplace of the traditional lamb and turkey. I think I will put less salt so that it can become a main course for each person. It is a forbidden food in my home for most of the year. It will be a treat and surprise for everyone. So sorry to Wilbur of “Charlotte’s Webb.”
[...] many different versions on how to make that perfect crispy pork belly, you can read all about it here, here, here and here. Of course, I have my own ’secret’ recipe, that’s all I can [...]
Followed your advice on this a couple of months back and it turned out GREAT! It’s on again tonight and can’t wait! Thanks for the inspiration and advice.
[...] the key to good pork belly for me is in the crispy skin, a method for which is outlined here.. http://www.atablefortwo.com.au/2010/01/04/crispy-roast-pork-belly-siew-yuk-烧肉/ I follow this recipe each time, the key being to keep the skin dry. I use the sauce/marinade from here: http://www.eatshowandtell.com/2008/09/22/crispy-skin-pork/ [...]