Rich and delicious, pork belly is the ideal cut of meat to use when you want to impress guests.
Cooked to perfection, meltingly tender with crisp crackling – who can resist?
Here are two recipes, one ideal for snack platters, in which the meat is cut into cubes and skewered with toothpicks.
This dish can be prepared a few days in advance and then glazed and served when required.
The other is slow roasted in cider with apples and onions on the side.
Glazed pork belly bites
Serves 8-10
2kg pork belly with bone
250ml port
2 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon
1 orange, sliced
salt and pepper
Glaze
60ml tomato sauce
30ml soy sauce
30ml honey
Score the rind of the pork belly into squares using a sharp knife.
Combine the port, spices and orange slices in the base of a roasting pan.
Place the pork in the pan and season well. Cover tightly with foil and roast in the oven at 160ºC for 2 to 3 hours. Check the liquid after an hour and top up with water if it’s boiling dry.
Remove from the oven when tender. Turn the oven setting to grill.
Rub a little more salt into the skin and return the meat to the oven and cook until the crackling is crisp, taking care not to burn it. Remove from the grill and take the crackling off, set aside and keep warm.
Brush the remaining fat layer with the glaze mixture and return to the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until nicely glazed.
Remove and when the meat is cool enough to handle, cut out the bones and slice the meat into cubes. Serve with the bits of crackling and a ready-made sour cream sauce if desired.
Glaze: Combine the ingredients and mix well.
Pork belly with sage and apple
Serves 6-8
Herb marinade
45ml chopped thyme
45ml chopped rosemary
60ml chopped sage
10ml chopped garlic
1 lemon rind, grated
125ml olive oil
salt and pepper
2kg pork belly with bones
3 apples, cored and cut into wedges
3 onions, peeled and sliced into wedges
500ml cider
250ml chicken stock
baby apples for serving
Marinade: Combine all the ingredients and mix well.
Score the rind of the meat. Separate from the bones but keep it attached at the thick end. The meat will rest on the bones while cooking but be easily removed for carving.
Rub the marinade into the meat, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. When you are ready to cook, place the apples and onions in the base of a roasting pan. Set the meat on top. Pour in the cider and stock. Season the top of the meat with salt.
Place in the oven at 160ºC for 2 to 3 hours until the meat is soft and the crackling is crisp. Top up the liquid with extra water or stock if necessary. When the meat is ready, remove and rest for 10 minutes. Remove the bones for easy carving.
If the crackling takes too long to crisp up, place the meat under a heated grill for a few minutes. Scoop out the apples and onions and serve with the meat. Strain the cooking liquid and scoop off excess fat. You can thicken the remaining gravy with a little slaked cornflour.
Sunday Tribune