5 Ingredients or Fewer

Crispy Chinese Roast Pork Belly

by:
May 17, 2021
4.6
5 Ratings
Crispy Chinese Roast Pork Belly
Photo by Ty Mecham
  • Serves 5
Author Notes

Known as siu yuk, this roast pork belly is a classic Cantonese dish. Its characteristically crispy skin is often what separates the best siu yuk from the rest, and can be elusive to obtain. This recipe here uses a tried and true salt crust method that my mom swears by. It has never once failed to satisfy her three ravenous kids, plus one ever-hungry husband. —Jun

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1.5-2 pounds slab of pork belly
  • 1/2 cup salt, coarse or kosher (for the salt crust)
  • 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 pieces (20g) fermented red bean curd, optional, can be substituted for 1 tablespoon of shaoxing/rice wine
Directions
  1. Using a small, sharp knife or skewer, poke little holes all over the skin side of the pork belly, around ½ -inch deep, 1-inch apart. This will help the fat render out as it roasts.
  2. Mix the five spice powder, ground white pepper, two teaspoons of salt and fermented bean curd together to form the marinade. Rub the marinade on the meat sides of the pork belly, leaving the skin marinade-free. Then pat the skin dry with a piece of cloth or a paper towel. Keep the pork belly in the refrigerator uncovered for at least a day, or for up to 3 days, to further dry out the skin.
  3. On the day of roasting, take the pork belly out of the fridge an hour before roasting to get it to room temperature. Stick skewers horizontally through the pork belly to help it stay flat during the roasting process. (Two skewers along and two across would be ideal.) Then, pour the kosher salt onto the skin of the pork belly and spread it around, making sure the whole skin is covered evenly in salt.
  4. Preheat your oven to 390F, and place a deep tray with about two cups of boiling water on the bottom of the oven. This serves two purposes - first, it creates steam which helps cook through the meat without causing it to burn too quickly, and second, it helps to catch all that fat drippings from the pork belly and saves you from cleaning up a potentially scorched tray!
  5. Roast the pork belly on a wire rack raised above the tray of water for 40 minutes. Remove the pork belly from the oven immediately, crack the salt crust and remove all the salt from the pork skin. Return the pork belly into the oven.
  6. Turn the oven up to 430F and roast for a further 20-30 minutes until the pork belly skin is completely blistered and crispy. If there are some parts that has yet to puff and crisp up, reduce the heat to 350F and roast for an additional 10-15 minutes, careful not to let it burn! Remove the pork belly from the oven and let it cool enough to handle.
  7. Cut the pork belly into ½-inch square pieces. The best way to do this is to flip the pork belly over and start cutting from the meat side down to the skin.
  8. It’s best eaten warm right after roasting. Be prepared for a food coma from all that porky goodness!
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  • Laurel
    Laurel
  • Jun
    Jun
  • Julie Williams
    Julie Williams
  • VancityV
    VancityV

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15 Reviews

VancityV
VancityV August 1, 2024
I have made this numerous times and it beats anything I get at restaurants around here. Many times, the roast pork at restaurants have a funky “dead animal” odour or flavour which is gross. But I think the shaoxing wine helps cut down the funk, much the same way the Japanese use sake to rinse chicken and pork for the same reason…?

Anyhoo, the tool I found that works best for poking holes are the tiny, sharp two-prong ends of a lobster or crab pick/fork. They’re short enough that you won’t ever accidentally poke through to the bottom. Also, I find that if you partially freeze the pork, it makes it a lot easier to poke the holes without smushing the meat. I also use bunched up tinfoil to level out the pork belly as it’s often a bit thicker on one end, and you don’t want it slanted. This way the skin cooks/crisps evenly.

My final trick is that I always make 2-3 of these and prepare them (poke holes and marinade) and then freeze them (with the marinade only on the meat side). Then, whenever I want pork belly, I just pull it out and defrost and proceed with the recipe, usually letting it sit in the fridge for 2-3 days, and maybe repoking the holes when it’s half defrosted. I usually have to wipe down the skin a few times as it defrosts, but it’s handy to have in the freezer. I like serving this with homemade pickled vegetables.
 
deird9217
deird9217 July 28, 2021
delicious! and it came out exactly as described. My son said it was a bit salty but I'm sure I can make some adjustments. the only way to make pork belly. YUM!
 
Ray N.
Ray N. July 16, 2018
I ended up buying a 3.5 lb pork belly to try this recipe. Do you recommend doubling the salt and spices? And it also seems the baking times are a bit long for a pork belly that is 2 lbs or less. Are these baking times accurate?
 
Jun
Jun July 17, 2018
Hi Ray! Yes I'd suggest doubling up on the seasoning. Also the cooking times are accurate, it might seem a bit long but that's to ensure that the skin crisps up really nicely! And since pork belly is usually quite fatty anyway, there's little risk in it drying out during the roast.
 
jy2nd
jy2nd June 1, 2018
where would you suggest obtaining pork belly with the skin? I can only find it skinned - even in the largest Asian market in the area.
 
Jun
Jun June 1, 2018
Ooh good question. Maybe try your local butcher shop!
 
Kami K.
Kami K. May 26, 2019
Costco is where I buy mine, but its about 5 lbs.
 
Tom D.
Tom D. June 1, 2018
The recipe does not state how to make the salt crust either, there is more to it than caking with dry salt I suspect?
 
Jun
Jun June 1, 2018
Hello Tom! My bad, a step got cut out by mistake. It's now fixed. Enjoy!
 
Tom D.
Tom D. June 2, 2018
great. thanks. can't wait to try! What's the traditional dipping sauce?
 
Laurel
Laurel June 1, 2018
And how, if the skin is very dry, do you make the salt stick?
 
Jun
Jun June 1, 2018
Oh the salt is just applied loosely on top of the pork belly skin. It doesn't initially stick, but through the roasting process, it'll harden up and form a single piece due to the moisture released while roasting.
 
R
R June 1, 2018
The recipe does not state when to apply the salt crust..when it goes into the fridge to rest or just before going in the oven?
 
Jun
Jun June 1, 2018
Hiya! So sorry about this, a step was cut out by accident in the editing process. It's now fixed!
 
Julie W.
Julie W. June 5, 2018
I see a lovely sauce on the side. Can you provide the recipe?