Ooh, I can hear it now. That audible crunch as you bite through light-as-air pork crackling into the succulent meat below. If you’ve been dreaming of perfect pork belly with crispy crackling, this recipe is super easy, but your guests will think you’re a pro!
How to make easy pork belly: key tips
A great pork crackling should be crisp and airy with a savoury taste, and starting with dry skin is the secret. If you follow the steps to dry out the skin as much as possible, you will be pretty much guaranteed to achieve that ultimate heart-stopping crunch. The best way to do this is to score the skin, rub in the salt and then place the pork, uncovered, on a wire rack in the fridge. You can leave it there for an hour to dry out, but if you keep it in the fridge for up to 48 hours, you’ll have a better chance of achieving crackling success.
Once you take the pork out of the fridge, dry the skin very well with paper towel before you brush it with oil. This will remove any remaining moisture that may create soggy chewy crackling.
Key ingredients in this easy pork belly recipe
There are only three ingredients needed to perfect this succulent pork: the pork belly, of course, some coarse salt (this recipe uses rock salt) and some olive oil. Choose a pork belly that has nice and even layers of fat and meat, so that it cooks evenly in the oven. Then, because this is such a great cut of meat, you don’t need to do much to bring it to life – some simple seasoning will do it. The salt not only dries out the skin, but also gently seasons meat. And the oil not only helps the salt stick to the skin, it encourages the skin to puff and become light and bubbly.
Now that you have perfected the crackling, why not try cooking pork belly in the air fryer?! And because we all love pork and it’s just so economical and versatile, get some more pork on your fork with our best pork recipes from a traditional pork roast to sticky ribs.
This recipe was originally submitted by Melissa, a member of the Australia’s Best Recipe community. Introduction and additional recipe notes by Natasha Shaw.
Ingredients
- 1kg pork belly
- 1 handful rock salt
- 1 splash olive oil
Method
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Step 1Preheat oven to 240C. Pat dry pork belly with paper towel.
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Step 2Score fat with a sharp knife 1cm apart.
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Step 3Rub salt into the score fat and place in the fridge to dry out for an hour.
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Step 4Rub oil into the pork and place in the oven and cook for 40 minutes.
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Step 5Turn down the oven to 180C and cook for a further 25 minutes.
Recipe Notes
What do I do if my meat cooks before the crackling is ready?
You don’t want your meat to dry out, so if you feel like it’s done but the crackling isn’t, you can always slice off the crackling and keep on cooking it while the meat is resting.
What should I serve with my pork belly?
There are lots of ways you can serve pork belly. I quite like it on rice with some Asian greens and chilli plum sauce alongside. You could also serve it with roast vegies. To make it more dinner party worthy, try serving your pork belly with baked apples, steamed green beans and mash.
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