Roast Pork Belly


Recently I found a series of food magazines published in Malaysia in Popular bookstore. One of my favorites is Famous Cuisine. There are tons of great recipes in it and the best part is, the recipes are published in both Chinese and English! I was very excited to find a roast pork belly recipe, I never knew that we can actually prepare roast pork at home! Well, did I mention how much I love roast pork? If I don't have to watch my diet, I would've eat it as breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper... need I say more? ;-)

I tried to roast a slice of pork belly few weeks ago. First, I marinated a big slice of pork belly with five spices powder, reddish cheese, chopped garlic, salt and sugar before it was roasted in the oven. Halfway through, the pork belly was removed from oven and the skin was brushed with rice vinegar. The pork belly was then roasted for another 30 minutes and it was ready to be served.

I was thrilled with the results! The roast pork looked like the ones selling in food stalls with plenty of pop-up bubbles on the skin. The skin was very crispy and the taste was just right.

For those who are keen to try it out, recipe as follows:

Roast Pork Belly Recipe

Ingredients:
2 kg pork belly (with skin)
2 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp rice vinegar


Marinade:
3 tbsp fine salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp MSG
2 pieces reddish cheese (南乳)
1/2 tbsp five spices powder
1 tbsp chopped garlic


Method:
1) Rinse pork belly and pat dry. Rub all over the skin with the coarse salt, then turn to the meat portion, score the inner portion of the meat.
2) Rub marinade mixture evenly into the meat. Marinate for about 30 mins.
3) Bake the marinated pork belly with skin upwards in pre-heated oven at 220C for 20 mins. Remove from oven. Prick over the surface of the skin.
4) Brush thepork skin with rice vinegar. Bake with skin side upwards at 250C for further 20-30 minutes, or until pop-up bubbles have formed the surface. Remove, cut into pieces and serve.


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Updated on 2 Jul 06:

A couple of readers asked me how reddish cheese looks like. As requested, here's the picture!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hey, sorry but what's reddish cheese? Any photos? Im dying to try this out since over here in aust, the roast pork are either too ex or too dry. =(
Anonymous said…
i find myself wanting to make all your recipes. so many recipes, so little stomach space. yum.
shaz said…
looks great. I might just try it out though Im not really into pork. thanks for the recipe
hinata said…
That looks really professional! I just made my first roast pork too, from a Jamie Oliver recipe, and was similarly surprised at how easy it was. Will definitely try your recipe soon, it looks fab. Where did you buy the reddish cheese? First time I've heard of it too...
Wow.. Your Roast Pork realli look gorgeous
Edith said…
gosh, this looks absolutely delicous. shiok shiok
Anonymous said…
wah..it looks really delicious and yummy especially the roasted crispy skin.
Piggy said…
Hi Anon 1,

I've uploaded a picture of reddish cheese. Hope that answer your question. :-)

Hi JL,

I have lots of recipes to try out too, but "Time" is my biggest enemy!

Hi Shaz,

Do give it a try. It's simple and taste good. :-)

Hi Hinata,

You can get the reddish cheese from any grocery store. I've uploaded a picture of it, have a look!

Hi Ellena Mummy,

Thanks! ;-)

Hi Anon 2,

Thanks for your compliment! :-)
polly + dieter said…
piggy,
we cannot believe that you really are a piggy! your food and photos reveal a side of food culture unknow to us (we live in florida). The adventure of taste and preparation are something we have in common, the more we learn the less we realize we actually know. looking forward to your new posts. please remember we cannot always get such exotic ingredients. so if possible please give us alternatives.
Babe_KL said…
wow looked so good... i like famous cuisines cook books too but too bad most of the tips were not translated into english. btw do you have the one on spareribs? it's an award winning cookbook in msia.
momo esther said…
Roast Pork ! Roast Pork !Roast Pork !
yummy!!wow!
boo_licious said…
Yum! Roast pork at home is yummy and yes the Famous Cuisine cookbooks are great. They have a brand new one - Soup of the Day.
Anonymous said…
Oh, belly pork, how i love thee!? Your belly pork looks deliciously juicy... and look at those crackling! I'm hungry...
Anonymous said…
piggy, your roast pork belly looks amazing. Just like the real deal. Thanks for sharing. I'll have to look out Famous Cuisine the next time I go to Popular.
Piggy said…
Hi Polly + dieter,

:-)

Hi Babe,

Yup, I hv the sparerib cookbook but I've not try out any of the recipes yet. Another Famous Cuisine cookbook that I love is Sensational Stewing, it's great!

Hi Wenn,

Thanks.

Hi Boo,

Yup, I've just bought Soup of the Day cookbook, can't wait to try out the recipe!

Hi Mae,

Sorry to make you feel hungry... ;-)

Hi Julia,

Check out the Famous Cuisine magazines too, it's $8 per copy, well worth the $$!
Babe_KL said…
Piggy, I've made siew yuk not long after you posted this hahaha very well received both at home and over at my blog. amazing! thanks for putting up this post.
http://babeinthecitykl.blogspot.com/2006/08/roast-pork-aka-siew-yuk.html
Anonymous said…
Hi Piggy:
Do you know the author's name of the cook book "Famous Cuisine" mentionned in your article?. Not sure can get it in Los Angeles.
Really enjoy reading your stuff. Keep it up

Fatcat
Piggy said…
Hi Fatcat,

Thanks for dropping by.

There are quite a number of authors for the series of "Famous Cuisine" cookbook. Hmm... not sure if you can get it from your part of the world though..
Anonymous said…
Hi Piggy

I am currently living in the UK and naturally can't just go to the market and buy roast pork! So I surfed, found your recipe and tried it. I didn't have the 'red cheese' but it still worked well. Got request for second time from family ie we all enjoyed it. Perhaps it's my oven, temperatures can be reduced though to avoid browning too much, depending on the oven.

Cheers!
~ fellow food lover
Anonymous said…
Hello Piggy,

Thank you for sharing this recipe.

I stumbled on your blog whilst searching "crispy skin pork" on Google.

I had people over my place last saturday and made a decision to try your magic.

I followed all your steps except MSG and as you said, this was very simple.

Everyone was there when i took the pork out of the oven, it looked amazing! We all couldn't wait to dig in.

The pork was crackly crispy and succulent. All the guest enjoyed it!
Anonymous said…
Why do you call it Reddish Cheese? Isn't it just red Beancurd? That's what it says on the label. Apart from that - Fantastic recipe!
Anonymous said…
It is Fermented Red Bean-curd. Reddish Cheese is incorrectly labeled.
stickyfingers said…
Reddish bean curd (Nam Yee/Naam Yu) is Tofu fermented in Miso (Sweet fermented red rice and soy bean paste). It's used in a great many red cooked dishes including claypot braises and even sometimes in baked items. It gives roasted pork (Siew Yook) a lovely fragrance.
Anonymous said…
Happy to see you mention the nam yu; not many are familiar with this product.

Sorry, but I admit that I did laugh out loud about the "reddish cheese".