Crispy Pork Belly Recipe (Siu Yuk) (2024)

FAQs

Why won t my pork belly get crispy? ›

The skin wasn't dry enough. Make sure to pat the pork completely dry before rubbing in the salt and oil as excess moisture will stop it from crisping up. It's important to score the skin if you want it really crisp. You'll need a sharp knife for this, or ask your butcher to do it for you.

Char siu is barbecued roast pork, whereas siu yuk is roasted crispy pork belly. Not only do they use different parts of the pig — my dad likes to use pork butt for char siu and pork belly for siu yuk — but they're also prepared differently and have varying flavor profiles and textures.

It is a fact of life that dry skin crisps better than moist skin. Scotese's trick to crispy pork belly is to rub equal parts baking soda and salt into the skin—the combo of baking soda and salt will draw out moisture and set you up for success.

Hot oven 30 minutes to develop crackling – Crank oven to 240°C/465°F and put pork back in for 30 minutes, observing and rotating as needed to encourage even cooking, until the skin is golden, puffy and super-crispy; Rest 10 minutes – Rest the pork belly for 10 minutes before slicing.

Preheat oven to 230°C, 210°C fan or Gas Mark 8. Put the joint in a roasting tin on the top shelf for 20 minutes. This sudden blast of heat is the key to crispy crackling. Reduce the temperature to 180-190°C, 160-170°C fan or Gas Mark 4-5 and follow the cooking times below to ensure the joint is cooked through.

Cook at 180°C (Fan) on the middle shelf for 60mins, Take out of oven, remove the salt crust and return to oven set to 220°C (Fan) for 30-40 minutes until crakling is golden and bubbled all over. Turn as needed. Place pork on wire rack and allow to air cool for 10 minutes which helps crackling crisp up nicely.

Siu yuk (Chinese: 燒肉; pinyin: shāo ròu; Cantonese Yale: sīu yuhk; lit. 'roast meat') is a variety of siu mei, or roasted meat dishes, in Cantonese cuisine. It is made by roasting an entire pig with seasonings, such as salt and vinegar in a charcoal furnace at high temperature.

No they are not the same. Hoisin sauce is made from fermented soybeans mixed with garlic, chilli, sesame, Chinese spices and vinegar. Char siu sauce is a condiment made from hoisin sauce, sugar, Chinese five spice powder, Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, garlic and often also food colouring.

Cantonese cuisine

Char siu literally means "fork roasted" (siu being burn/roast and cha being fork, both noun and verb) after the traditional cooking method for the dish: long strips of seasoned boneless pork are skewered with long forks and placed in a covered oven or over a fire.

We will use white vinegar to soften the skin, then use kosher salt to absorb the moisture. In this way, we can make the pork belly meat juicy, tender, and flavorful, and the crackling crazily crispy.

How do Chinese restaurants make pork so tender? ›

In Chinese cooking, proteins like beef, pork or chicken are velveted first before stir-frying them. There are several ways to velvet, but at its most basic level, it involves marinating meat with at least one ingredient that will make it alkaline. This is what tenderizes the meat, especially cheaper, tougher cuts.

Prick and Parboil the Meat

This step helps tenderize the liempo and causes the fat to render once cooked. Your next crucial task is to parboil the meat. This process softens the pork, infuses it with flavor, and speeds up the overall cooking time. Some prefer to boil their belly in plain water.

According to this chef, by brushing vinegar on pork, it will expedite the crispiness.

We remove the hairs, clean it, boil it until just cooked, and marinate it. Then we dry the belly as much as possible. The drying means crispier skin. We also cut grooves and make holes in the skin, allowing the seasonings and oil to permeate better.

It is important not to poke holes that are too deep, or meat juices will flow up during roasting, making the skin wet, which interferes with the crisping. The skin needs to be DRY. You have heard me say this many times, but crispy = no moisture.

The secret to cooking pork belly is the combination of a gentle heat to tenderise the meat and short, high temperature blasts to crisp up the skin on the outside. Typically, recipes call for around 2 hrs at 180C/160C fan/gas 4, then a further 30 mins or so at 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Arrange the pork belly cubes on a wire cooling and baking rack, then place on the smoker and smoke between 225°F and 250°F for 2 ½ to 3 hours until dark red and a nice bark starts to form.

Can you overcook smoked pork belly? You can overcook anything. If smoked at too high of a temperature or for too long, then the meat will become tough and rubbery. Remove the meat from the heat once it reaches 190-195°F to prevent overcooking, plus don't add too many wood chips and overdo the amount of smoke.