Kitchen Notes: Crispy Pork Belly

I had visual aspirations for this food experiment. I thought it would resemble the real thing. But sadly, it seems that how my oven performed versus what it looks like from a restaurant are radically different in taste, texture, and overall appearance. I think the start of the #fail began when I picked up a random portion of pork belly from Fubonn. There was a lot of fat on the cut I got and it should have had more meat. Aside from the very top layer of the pork belly, the skin, the other two layers should be relatively equal in distribution: fat and meat. Just a thought, really. My pork belly had twice as much fat as meat. Also, I don't believe that 465 degrees F is the right temperature for the second baking phase.

What pork belly looks like after the second roasting;
the skin is really, really hard

This recipe process did not work for me: http://kirbiecravings.com/2014/08/crispy-golden-pork-belly.html

It could also be that I had the pork belly in the freezer for several months instead of using fresh pork belly. The fat content of each slice is too much for me. Ugh. #fail



Alas, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

marinade for pork:
1/4 c light soy sauce
1/3 c Chinese rice wine
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced

salt crust:
up to 1 c sea salt

water for the roasting pan

Directions

1. In a pan large enough for the pork belly, combine marinade ingredients and place pork meat-side-down into the marinade. Put in refrigerator and let the meat marinate for several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

For future reference, I am putting the directions in the order it should have been.

2. Remove pork belly from marinade and set onto a plate. Sprinkle an even layer of salt on top of the pork belly (skin side up, meat side dow). Then, gently place pork belly on a rack nested inside a baking dish. 

Fill the dish with water so that the water line is just below the meat but not touching it.

Place pan in oven and bake for 40 minutes.

Remove pork belly from the oven. Raise the oven temp to 465 F.

Salt crust on pork belly.

Remove the salt crust from the pork belly and put it back onto the rack in the oven.

Bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the skin is crispy.