← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg skin-on pork belly in one even slab
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice
• 1 tsp White pepper
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 200 g coarse rock salt, for the crust
• English mustard or hoisin, to serve

Method

1. Pour boiling water over the skin to tighten it, then pat the whole slab completely dry. Prick the skin all over, very densely, with a skewer or meat tenderiser, going only through the skin and not into the meat.
2. Turn it skin-side down and score the meat side with a few shallow cuts. Mix the wine, five-spice, pepper, fine salt and sugar and rub it only into the meat and sides, keeping the skin clean.
3. Set the pork skin-side up on a rack over a tray and refrigerate it uncovered overnight, or at least 12 hours, so the skin dries out like parchment.
4. Heat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Wrap the meat sides snugly in foil, leaving the skin exposed. Brush the skin with the vinegar and pack on a thin, even layer of rock salt.
5. Roast for 1 hour, then lift off and discard the salt crust and brush away any loose grains.
6. Turn the oven up to 240°C (465°F) and roast for 20–30 min more, watching closely, until the skin has puffed into golden blisters all over. Rotate the tray if one end colours faster.
7. Rest for 10 min, then chop into bite-sized pieces with a heavy knife, skin-side down. Serve with mustard and rice.

Tips

• Dry skin is everything: the overnight uncovered rest in the fridge makes the crackling puff up.
• If a few patches refuse to blister, finish them under a hot grill for a minute or two, watching all the time.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Omnivore's Cookbook Made With Lau RecipeTin Eats