Crispy Pork Belly (Chinese Roast Pork) - CJ Eats Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Is pork belly better in air fryer or oven? ›

The oven method, which you can find here, isn't too dissimilar, however, it does take longer – and there's more mess to clean up. Now that I tend to make this pork belly in the air fryer, we can eat it more regularly – much to my family's delight.

The skin wasn't dry enough. Make sure to pat the pork completely dry before rubbing in the salt and oil as excess moisture will stop it from crisping up. It's important to score the skin if you want it really crisp. You'll need a sharp knife for this, or ask your butcher to do it for you.

It requires putting a thick layer of salt on the skin of your pork belly, making sure every inch of that pristine skin is covered in salt, then roasting it whole. Roasting this salt-covered belly in the oven will then draw out more moisture from the skin and form a hardened salt crust, which is then removed.

Preheat oven to 230°C, 210°C fan or Gas Mark 8. Put the joint in a roasting tin on the top shelf for 20 minutes. This sudden blast of heat is the key to crispy crackling. Reduce the temperature to 180-190°C, 160-170°C fan or Gas Mark 4-5 and follow the cooking times below to ensure the joint is cooked through.

The secret to cooking pork belly is the combination of a gentle heat to tenderise the meat and short, high temperature blasts to crisp up the skin on the outside. Typically, recipes call for around 2 hrs at 180C/160C fan/gas 4, then a further 30 mins or so at 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR – MY SECRET INGREDIENT: Do NOT SKIP the vinegar before the salt crust! The vinegar will further soften the skin when baking, as well as remove any odor from the skin. I have seen other recipes call for baking soda but I have found that vinegar works best for me!

Scotese's trick to crispy pork belly is to rub equal parts baking soda and salt into the skin—the combo of baking soda and salt will draw out moisture and set you up for success. Let the pork belly strips "hang out overnight, uncovered, ideally in front of a fan," which will dry them out even more.

boiling water trick

This helps to prep the skin to crackle as its now "pre-cooked" so to speak. Make sure to pat dry with paper towel to further dry afterwards.

Place the pork belly on your prepared baking rack with the skin side facing up. Rub the top with oil, then liberally season the meat with salt and pepper. In addition to seasoning the meat, the oil and salt make it easier for the fat to render out, resulting in crispier skin.

HIGH HEAT. “A searing hot oven to start is the best way to get crisp crackling,” says Valli Little, of delicious. Between 220C and 240C for 20 to 30 minutes is the recommendation, then reduce the temperature to a range of 160C to 180C. Pork meat is at its best when it's just pink verging on white.

Do you put oil on pork to make crackling? ›

If you've missed a step along the way and the skin hasn't crackled, don't give up. Cut it away from the meat and place it on a baking tray lined with foil, then brush with oil and sprinkle with salt. Cook under a preheated grill until the magic happens. Keep a close eye on it as it can easily burn.

Place the pork, rind-side up, in a roasting pan. Drizzle the oil over the pork, then rub the salt mixture into the cuts. Rub a little oil and salt into the scored rind and place in the oven. Roast for 45 minutes or until the rind crackles.

Because of its smaller size, an air fryer—or a countertop oven on the air fry setting—usually circulates the air a bit faster than in a convection oven. This can sometimes give you a crispier finish that is just a bit closer to an actual deep-fried finish, depending on your recipe.

Is air frying healthier than oven cooking? Both air frying and oven cooking primarily use hot air, so there's less difference between the two. Still, the scientists behind the fish cake study found that baking these cakes in the oven created fewer AGEs overall.

A good rule of thumb? Use a temperature about 25 degrees F lower than what you may might be accustomed to with a conventional oven: Baking in the air fryer is typically about 325 instead of 350 degrees F, roasting will be about 400 instead of 425 degrees, and so on.

This same technology is perfect for roasting foods. Roasting foods in the air fryer is much quicker than roasting them in the oven since its compact size allows the air fryer to get to temperature much more quickly and use that heat more efficiently.