Cantonese Crispy Pork Belly

[pianoman9701]

I did this over the weekend. Seasoned it, open in the fridge for 20 hours, roast for one hour and broil for 25 minutes. It looks breaded but that the cracklin' skin after coming out of the broiler. This was really simple and delicious.

[pianoman9701]

The knife is a slicer from A. Cole. It's now my favorite kitchen knife. It keeps its edge for many months. The recipe for the belly is here: https://www.recipetineats.com/chinese-crispy-pork-belly/

[Buckhunter24]

Looks good are the cucumbers and radishes pickled?

[pianoman9701]

Nope, just as they come. We did pickled cukes a week ago.

[bobcat]

Looks awesome. I love pork belly.

[Alchase]

You had me at Pork Belly 

Is there anything to know when buying Pork Belly? I noticed Costco here had a large supply, but to be honest I have not attempted any yet.

Those look amazing 

[pianoman9701]

I got this one at Costco. Cut it into three portions and vacuum sealed them. In retrospect, I'd have sealed them with seasoning on and just thrown them in the bath when I wanted to use them.

As you know, pork belly is basically uncut bacon with the skin on. You look for large bands of primary and secondary meat, as opposed to more fat than meat. The Costco PBs are OK. But if you really want to find meaty PB, go to an Asian market. The Asians are very picky about not only cost, but quality and they look for the largest primary and secondary meat sections.

[RC]

I love pork bellies and buy them from Costco somewhat regularly.  I go through every package and pick the one that is the floppiest.  Typically the floppier it is, the leaner it is.  The more ridged ones usually have more fat, but with that said, even the leaner ones will have sections that are fatty, so I still go through it before cooking or smoking and shave off some of the thicker fat bands and save it for whenever I'm running meat through the grinder.

[pianoman9701]

I love pork bellies and buy them from Costco somewhat regularly.  I go through every package and pick the one that is the floppiest.  Typically the floppier it is, the leaner it is.  The more ridged ones usually have more fat, but with that said, even the leaner ones will have sections that are fatty, so I still go through it before cooking or smoking and shave off some of the thicker fat bands and save it for whenever I'm running meat through the grinder.

Don't shave off the fat. It's good for you and bacon fat tastes excellent.

[Fidelk]

That looks fantastic. Looking at it, I thought that the crispy portion was skin and was surprised that it came from Costco, since the ones in mine have no skin. Am I correct, you got that crisp from the outside fat part of the belly? Wow!

I've just been smoking PB and cutting that into small chunks of bacon. One of my favorite meals was going into a lunch only Chinese restaurant and getting wide rice noodle Chicken Chow Fun with a side order of crispy skin pork belly sitting on top of the chow fun and then adding a jar of black bean hot sauce.

[pianoman9701]

That looks fantastic. Looking at it, I thought that the crispy portion was skin and was surprised that it came from Costco, since the ones in mine have no skin. Am I correct, you got that crisp from the outside fat part of the belly? Wow!

I've just been smoking PB and cutting that into small chunks of bacon. One of my favorite meals was going into a lunch only Chinese restaurant and getting wide rice noodle Chicken Chow Fun with a side order of crispy skin pork belly sitting on top of the chow fun and then adding a jar of black bean hot sauce.

No, the Costco pork belly has skin. It must be punctured to get the cracklin going.

[Fidelk]

That looks fantastic. Looking at it, I thought that the crispy portion was skin and was surprised that it came from Costco, since the ones in mine have no skin. Am I correct, you got that crisp from the outside fat part of the belly? Wow!

I've just been smoking PB and cutting that into small chunks of bacon. One of my favorite meals was going into a lunch only Chinese restaurant and getting wide rice noodle Chicken Chow Fun with a side order of crispy skin pork belly sitting on top of the chow fun and then adding a jar of black bean hot sauce.

No, the Costco pork belly has skin. It must be punctured to get the cracklin going.

Time for me to get to searching. But you have a winner there.