Main Meals
Pork Belly
Nov
The concept of this dish was shared by a friend from New Zealand but is inspired by Annabel Langbein “The Free Range Cook” from New Zealand. Her cookbooks and TV series are favourites of mine.
The thought of slow cooking the meat in milk before quickly roasting at high heat to get the crispy skin is quite alien but luckily I tasted the end result before dismissing it myself and I fell in love with it. The milk keeps the pork meat very tender and moist and the Air Fryer works its magic for the most beautiful crispy crackling rind, if you don’t have an Air Fryer don’t worry you can use an oven on it’s highest heat or a very hot covered BBQ.
The secret is to make sure that the milk comes up the side of the flesh so it doesn’t dry out, but doesn’t cover the rind. Pork belly is very rich so a little goes a long way, when cooked you can serve it as a traditional roast with vegetables or with a crispy Asian salad or even as a filling with Bao Buns.
Crispy Pork Belly
Equipment
- 1 Air fryer Or use oven
Ingredients
- 1 Kg Pork Belly, boneless and rind scored
- Pinch Salt
- Pinch White pepper
- 1-2 Cups Milk
- 1 Tbsp Fennel seeds or sage leaves optional
- 1 Tbsp Oil
- Pinch Salt
Instructions
- preheat oven 160C
- Lightly grease oven dish (I spray with olive oil spray) sprinkle base with fennel seeds or sage leaves if using.
- Season the under side of the pork belly with salt and pepper.
- Place pork in the dish rind side up and carefully pour enough milk around the pork to cover the flesh but not the rind.
- Bake uncovered for 2 hours, I find I sometimes need to top up the milk halfway through cooking to keep it covering the meat.
- Remove from the tray and discard juices, drying the meat with paper towel.
- Preheat Airfryer 200C
- Rub vegetable oil over rind and sprinkle liberally with salt.
- Cook for 12-15 minutes or until the crackle is crispy.
- Serve with a salad or vegetables.
Notes
