Crunchy Pork Belly w/ Orange Sauce

If you love pork and citrus, you’ll love this!! Being brought up in Malaysia, a typical salaryman dinner may occasionally/frequently include a humble plate of “Chicken Rice”. Despite “Chicken” being the main subject of the hawker stalls, a typical stall usually houses a repertoire of roasts which may include the Roasted Pork Belly (a.k.a Siu Yook in Cantonese), the Char Siew, Lacquered Roast Duck, and of course the awesome gizzards that come with the beasts! Being inspired by “ye olde” roasted belly of pork, I’ve decided to take it one step further by incorporating the tastes that I’ve experienced while living overseas. Here’s what we’ve got!

The art of butchery is something of a rarity these days. Fortunately, our local butcher still loves his meat and he has his workspace set up just minutes from our location. Nonetheless, ask him for a thoughtfully cut or pork belly from a young pig. I find young pigs (not piglets) to be milder in flavour and possesses softer fats. We’re never really going to go healthy on this, so don’t worry about the fat. It will render off when done.

Into the brine it goes, a brine consisting 3:1 sugar to salt ratio, Bay leaves, and Juniper berries. Leave the brine to cool before introducing the pork. Warm brines will result in some really unappetizing flavours. Trust me, I’ve done it. Depending on the thickness of your pork, I brined my 1.5″ pork for 2 hours.

THE ART OF CRACKLING – Its all in the prep, start of by pricking the skin with heaps of holes, but not too deep that it penetrates the flesh (this is crucial). Then, rub a generous portion of Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCo3), this will help breakdown the skin collagen while the proteins are being brined. During the brining process, I’ve only submerged the belly of pork till it reaches the skin but not over it. Then sprinkle generous amount of flake salt on the surface of the skin (Sodium bicarbonate applied), until it looks like a white layer of salt crust on the skin. Don’t worry about the salt, you’re not going to ruin it. After 2 hours, remove the brined pork from the brine unto a cooling rack. Then scrape of all that salt. At this point, your skin will have residue of salt and baking soda, and it looks just like a piece of bread hard bread with flour residues all over it. Thats a good sign! If you see liquid (juices) sipping out from the holes, you’ve overpoked your belly :). Last but not least, brush some vinegar over the skin to neutralize any remnants of baking soda on the surface of the skin. If you see fizzling bubbles during the process, don’t freak out as it a mere, SAFE chemical reaction between alkali and acid based mediums better expressed as NaHCO3 + CH3COOH → CO2 + H2O + Na+(aq) + CH3COO-(aq). To sum it up, you get CO2 gas, some water, and a new salt derivative which will just be interpreted by our taste buds as “salty”. Finally, leave it or pat dry before roasting it! To summarize, we just need the Skin to be really really DRY. There are many other methods our there, but this one’s work for me all the time!

When the pork crackling looks inflated, you know you’ve created a masterpiece. It taste fantastic as it is, but I wanted to try something new. I glazed it in a balsamic reduction before serving it, adds a bit more tang and sweetness. For the orange sauce, its pretty much a natural marmalade. Start of with lemon juice, orange juice, and the peels, and thickened with the Gel from the seeds! The seeds contain a natural gelatin called pectin which will thicken your sauce naturally. Flavour to taste really….Enjoy!!!

A glorified version of roast belly of pork! I’ve also sprinkled some thyme leaves on it for aesthetic purposes.