Roasted Pork Belly

Roasted Pork Belly

• 2 1/2 lb pork belly (choose a meaty piece)
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp sage
• olive oil
• small wire rack
• large roasting rack or cookie sheet
• heavy duty foil

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Rinse pork belly then dry thoroughly with paper towels. Place on a cutting board. Using a skewer, poke the skin all over as much as possible. If the bamboo skewer stops piercing the skin it has probably become blunt at the end so discard it and use another. Repeat until you've used 5-6 skewers Do this for at least 5 minutes to really get lots of holes deep into the skin. I don't think you can pierce the skin too much!
3. Mix together salt and herbs. Flip pork belly over so skin side is down and rub half of the salt mixture into the meat. Drizzle with olive oil
4. Roll pork belly into a cylinder so that the skin is on the outside and the meat is all tucked inside. Tie the cylinder with the kitchen string in 3 places along the length of the cylinder.
5. Rub outside of skin with some olive oil, then rub the rest of the salt and herb mixture into the skin.
6. The next set of steps is to help with the spattering that will occur when you cook the pork belly. First, take very generous piece of foil out that is at least a half a size too large for your large roasting try or cookie sheet. Place that foil on the rack and tent the edges of the foil upwards. This will create some walls that help catch some splatters. With a smaller piece of foil, make a little 'tray' that is large enough for your rack. Place on the cookie sheet, then place the wire rack down into it and the pork belly on top of that.
7. Roast at 450 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The skin will become bubbled and crispy and a lot of fat will render into the pie/cake pan beneath.
8. Let pork rest for 10 minutes before cutting twine and slicing.

Hoisin Mushroom Sauce

• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• 2 Tbsp rice wine (or sherry)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• olive oil

1. Saute onions in olive oil until translucent and soft. Add mushrooms and continue to cook. They will absorb the oil and then shrink down. Let them brown a little.
2. Mix together hoisin, rice wine, salt, and the chicken stock. Add to the mushrooms once they have browned. Let the mixture come to a boil and reduce by quarter.
3. Mix cornstarch with 1 Tbsp of water or broth. Add to hoisin/stock mixture and stir vigorously. Cook until the sauce has thickened and no cloudiness remains. Add more broth or water if necessary to thin to desired consistency.