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Pieces of Chinese roast pork in a black dish with chopped scallions beside it.
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5 / 2 votes

Chinese Roast Pork

This Chinese roast pork recipe turns out a crisp, crackling BBQ pork belly just like what you find in Chinatown. Like most Chinese barbecue, it's impossibly tender, slightly sweet, and surprisingly easy to make at home. Here's how.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time55 minutes
Total Time5 hours 20 minutes
Course: Mains
Cuisine: Chinese
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 595

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 2 pounds pork belly
  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
  • Mild olive oil or vegetable oil, for brushing
US - Metric

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, five spice powder, white pepper, kosher salt, and sugar.
  • Use a sharp knife to scrape the skin of the pork belly to ensure the surface is fairly smooth. Rinse the pork belly with cold running water. Repeat the scraping if necessary, being careful to keep the skin intact and not rip it. Pat the skin completely dry with paper towels.
  • Poke the skin with the tip of a sharp paring knife many, many times. (This ensures the skin on the pork belly turns maddeningly, crazily, irresistibly crisp in the oven.) Grab some more paper towels and pat the skin dry yet again.
  • Flip the pork belly so it's skin side down on your work surface. With your paring knife, make slits in the meat portion of the pork belly about 1 inch (2 1/2 centimeters) apart and 3/4 inch (2 centimeters) deep. Brush the marinade on the pork, working it into the slits so it can penetrate the meat. Be careful not to get the marinade on the skin (and if you do, just pat it dry with paper towels).
  • Flip the pork belly again so it's skin side up and sprinkle the salt evenly on the skin. Let the pork rest, uncovered, at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours to expose the skin to the air and let it dry. (You can instead use a fan to dry the skin.)
  • Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
  • Wrap the pork belly tightly with 2 sheets of aluminum foil, exposing only the pork skin. Roast the pork for 50 minutes.
  • Remove it from the oven and pat the top of the skin dry once more. Brush the surface of the skin with the oil, sprinkle with a little more salt, and turn the oven setting to broil.
  • Slide the pork belly back in the oven and broil until crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. (Begin checking it at 3 minutes and keep a careful watch on it, as it goes from perfectly crisp to burnt in seconds.)
  • Let the roast pork belly rest for about 10 minutes. Cut the pork belly into 1-inch-thick slices and serve immediately.

Notes

  1. Drying the pork--Make sure your pork belly skin is completely dry before roasting. This is critical to achieving crispy skin.
  2. Storage and leftovers--Leftover pork belly can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Pile leftover pork belly atop ramen bowls or tuck it into pork belly tacos.
  3. Dietary--This recipe is suitable for dairy-free diets. To make it gluten-free, use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 595kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 60g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Monounsaturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 1270mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 1g