Get Premium access to all the latest content online
Subscribe and view full print editions online... Subscribe
Sticky salt-cured pork belly
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1.5kg boneless pork belly, skin/rind removed
- 3tbsp rock salt, roughly crushed
- 2tsp extra virgin olive oil
For the marinade
- 120ml sweet chilli sauce
- 1tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
- 75ml clear honey
- juice 1 large lime
To serve
- 50g peanuts
- 1/2tsp sunflower oil
- 1tsp rock salt, roughly ground
- 4 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, shaved into ribbons
- 2 pak choi, thinly sliced across
- 1 green chilli, deseeded and sliced across
- 1tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2tsp Dijon mustard
- 3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Method
Cut the pork belly into 8 slices lengthways, approx 3.5cm wide, then cut each slice in half crossways. Put into a non-corrosive dish that will take all the pieces in a single layer. Scatter over the rock salt, making sure the pork pieces are evenly coated. With cut sides up, cover and put in the fridge for 2 hours.
Rinse the salt off the pork, pat dry and return to the container. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and smear evenly over the meat pieces. Cover and leave out of the fridge for 1 hour, turning in the marinade after 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C Fan/Gas 5. Put the olive oil in a shallow roasting tin and lift the belly out of the marinade, letting it drip off back into the container to use for basting later. Lay the pieces in the roasting tin.
Roast for 20 minutes, then baste with the reserved marinade and roast again for a further 15 minutes. Lower the oven to 170C/150C F/Gas 3 and roast for another 10 minutes until sticky and tender.
In a wok or frying pan, stir-fry the peanuts in the sunflower oil until tinged golden. Transfer to a board and chop, then sprinkle the salt over, and combine in a bowl with the spring onions.
Arrange the fennel, pak choi and chilli in serving bowls. Put the vinegar, mustard and olive oil in a screw-topped jar and shake to emulsify. Add a little water if it’s too thick and pour over the salad in the bowls.
Scatter some nut and onion mix over the pork and put the rest in a small bowl to sprinkle. Add lime wedges to serve.
This recipe featured in the June 2022 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
Advertisement