CRISPY PORK BELLY

Crispy Pork Belly   - Weber                           

'Pig Out' on Crispy Pork Belly. This recipe is as simple as they come. Very few ingredients  are required to serve up this masterpiece.

Grilling time: Approx 1 hour and 20 minutes 

Serves: 6-8. Allow for about 250g raw weight per person.

Grilling method: Indirect

                                                                                                               

Ingredients:

1.5-2kg pork belly rib (with some rib in it). See note below.

2ml Ground ginger

10ml BBQ spice

3ml White pepper

15ml Olive Oil

10ml coarse sea salt

Glaze

15ml Molasses

15ml Honey

10ml Soy sauce

10ml Brown sugar

(Mix together in a cup or bowl)

Method

The art of roasting pork comes down to tender, juicy meat and crispy crackling. This is how it's done.

Fire: Indirect fire with 25-30 briquettes on each side or set your gas weber on indirect to maintain a heat of about 180°C.

Place the belly on wire rack with the skin side up and pour a kettle of boiling water over it. Make sure the belly does not sit in the water.

Leave the belly on the rack and cover loosely with a net to avoid flies getting to the meat and let it dry out for 2-3 hours. If you want to speed this process up you can put a fan to blow on it. There is no set time for this but the dryer the skin the crispier it will be.

After this you can rub the belly and the skin with the oil and spices. I don’t use a lot of the BBQ spice on the skin as it can get a little bit dark then.

Place the belly, skin side up, on the grid not directly over the coals and cover with the lid. (You can also put the belly at a slight angle in a roast holder. This allows excess fat to run of the skin to get even crispier.)

Leave to cook for 1 hour.

After the hour the belly should be just cooked or almost there at least. Using a kitchen knife you can carefully remove the skin from the belly. The knife should slide through easily.

Brush the belly with the glaze and roast a further 10-20 min depending on degree of doneness.

Place the crackling on the grid, skin side up, over the direct heat. This is where you need to keep a close eye as it could burn easily. After a few minutes you can turn the crackling over and cook the other side. Brush the last bit of the glaze on the inside of the crackling. The skin will start to form tiny, crisp bubbles. Whatever you do don’t overcook it.

Remove the belly and the crackling and leave the belly to rest for 5min.

Now you are ready to carve and serve.

Warning: Once you get a taste of the crackling you might not want to serve your guests and rather keep all of it for yourself.

Note: Butcheries sell a few different parts as belly. Some will include a bit of the rib and others not. Some have the rib trimmed of so the belly is thinner.

Geplaas deur: Belinda Liebenberg
http://lekkerreseptevirdiejongergeslag.blogspot.com/2013/10/crispy-pork-belly.html