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As a favorite dish of many, crispy pork belly is loved for its crispy pork skin, rich fat, and tender, flavorful meat. However, not everyone knows how to successfully make this dish, as the pork skin can be tough and the meat can be too burnt, affecting both the aesthetics and the quality of the dish.
To successfully prepare crispy pork belly, you need to prepare and marinate the meat correctly, especially keeping the pork skin dry and the frying technique precise so that the pork skin crackles evenly and crisply, the meat cooks to a golden color, and it is not burnt. The detailed recipe for making crispy pork belly is as follows.
1. Ingredients for making crispy pork belly:
- Pork belly: 1kg
- Seasonings for preparing the meat: Vinegar, white wine, salt, dried shallots, ginger
- Seasonings for marinating the meat: Five-spice powder, salt, seasoning powder, soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, peppercorns, flour
2. How to make crispy pork belly:
2.1. Prepare the pork belly
Slice the meat into long pieces, soak it in diluted saltwater to clean off blood and dirt, then rinse with clean water and let it drain.
Bring a pot of water to a boil (enough to cover the pork belly) and add a bit of vinegar, white wine, salt, 2-3 shallots, and 2-3 slices of ginger. Then, add the meat and boil it, making sure to press the skin side down to the bottom of the pot. Boil like this for about 25 minutes, then remove the meat and let it drain.
After draining the meat, use a skewer or a bunch of skewers (secured with a rubber band) or a plate to prop up the pork belly at a 60-degree angle to allow the skin to blister beautifully.
Brush a thin layer of vinegar over the skin. Then sprinkle salt evenly and use a brush to spread it out. Once this step is completed, let the meat dry in the sun for 1 hour.
2.2. Marinating the pork belly
The seasoning mix for marinating the meat consists of: 1/2 packet of five-spice powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of peppercorns, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of cooking oil.
After the pork has finished drying, marinate it with the mixed seasoning (note: only marinate the meat, not the skin). Sprinkle a layer of flour over the entire marinated meat. The flour will absorb moisture from the meat, making the pork crispier after frying. Do this step for each side of the meat.
After completing the process, thoroughly remove any remaining flour from the skin with dry paper towels.
2.3. Frying the pork belly
Pour oil into a pan (enough to cover the pork skin) and heat it up.
Use 2 square skewers fixed at a 90-degree angle to hold 2 pieces of meat (skewer the meat, not the skin).
When the oil is hot, add the meat to fry. Hold the skewers with both hands, skewering the meat, and slowly lower the skin into the hot oil, keeping the skin from touching the bottom of the pan. If the skin touches the bottom, it will not blister properly.
Continue to fry like this for about 3 minutes until the skin blisters evenly. Then, remove the skewers and continue to fry the remaining sides. Because the meat has been boiled in the previous step, you only need to fry the meat until it is golden as desired.
2.4. Making dipping sauce for crispy pork belly
Depending on your preference and your family's taste, you can choose one of the two dipping sauce recipes for crispy pork belly below.
2.4.1. Sweet and sour fish sauce dipping sauce for crispy pork belly
Clean and finely chop garlic and chili, then squeeze the juice from the lime.
Mix sugar and water, stir until the sugar dissolves. Add fish sauce to the mixture.
Add finely chopped garlic and chili to the dipping sauce bowl.
2.4.2. Soy sauce dipping sauce for crispy pork belly
Peel and clean garlic and shallots, then finely chop. Wash and finely chop the chili. Squeeze the lime for juice.
Mix water and soy sauce in a 1:1 ratio. You can adjust the sweetness and saltiness with sugar and salt to your liking, then stir well.
Sauté the spring onion and garlic in cooking oil. Add the dipping sauce mixture and stir well. Slowly add cornstarch to thicken the sauce to your desired consistency.
Add seasoning powder and pepper to the pan, stir well. Wait until it cools down, squeeze the lime juice and add chili.
2.5. Finishing touches for crispy pork belly
