Roast Pork Belly

There’s a lot of fun to be had in the kitchen and I don’t just mean water and/or food fights. I’m sure by all my restaurant posts you’ll have figured out that I love to eat great food but I can cook decently as well. With The F Word back on, I was a bit inspired to try my hand at cooking one of the dishes the angry chef himself made way back in season 2 (we’re currently on 5). This was also somewhat brought on by a short discussion over on ChowTimes as to the current “in fashion”-ness of pork belly. As I said there, bacon never goes out of style.

Most people are scared by the fat content when it comes to pork belly and with the health consciousness these days, it’s almost ridiculous to make something that you know isn’t particularly good for you. However, nearly everything that’s awesome is probably bad for you. Yes, there is a large layer (perhaps two) of fat in pork belly but a good majority of it melts away as it slowly cooks and if it is excessive, you can always cut it away before eating. Never cut fat away prior to cooking as that is basically what keeps meat moist and flavorful. Ever cooked a steak that’s just too lean? Found it was flavorless, dry and chewy, did you?

Pork belly is amazingly cheap and abundant since it is basically bacon prior to being sliced and processed. This piece I got was less than five bucks and large enough for two portions. It’s also amazingly easy to cook. This particular way is easy with very little prep and you don’t need to do very much at all but there is a lot of waiting around.

Score the top in a cross pattern with a sharp knife and season with salt and pepper. I also sprinkled some dried thyme on top.

Cut a couple cloves of garlic in half and put them in a tray with some fresh sprigs of thyme. The pork belly goes on top of that, raised off the bottom of the pan which will keep the meat moist and prevent it from getting burned on the bottom. I chose just to use a regular pan since my pork belly wasn’t big enough to justify bringing out the big roasting pans. Dump in a splash of white wine (I was rather generous with it) and place in the oven at medium heat. Medium as in 170C or 340F. Bake for two hours.

In two hours, it comes out looking like this. It’s cooked all the way through but it isn’t quite done yet.

Put the pork in a different pan and put it back in the oven. Crank the heat up to about 500F and cook for another 15 minutes or until the top layer is crispy.

To make a sauce, deglaze the pan with more white wine and reduce. Add chicken stock and reduce again. Make sure you scrape all the bits on the bottom and get all that slow roasted garlic mashed up. Pour through a strainer.

If you look at a cross section, you’ll see that the fat is mostly melted off and all the flavor is in the meat. There is a bit left between the two layers of meat which you can easily remove if you want. Of course, Ramsay’s recipe has you compressing the pork and putting it in the fridge overnight before returning it to a 500 degree oven. I did that with half of my pork belly and it makes a bit of a difference. Mostly it makes it easy to prepare ahead of time since two hours is a long time to cook.

Serve with a robust green veggie or some potatoes. I chose to caramelize some brussels sprouts (my new favorite veggie) to go with it.

It’s a slow cooking process but it is quite easy for just about anyone to do. Heck, this was my first time even trying and well, look at that incredibly moist and delicious bite up top.

in Food and Fine Dining