Best Ever Roast Pork Belly

Pork Belly has got to be my favourite roast. There’s just something about juicy pork paired with crispy crackling that makes my heart sing. It’s also one of the easier meals to both prepare and cook.

There seems to be a misconception that roast pork belly is difficult. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While it is time consuming, roast pork belly is one of the easiest things to make. It doesn’t matter if you’re a novice cook or a trained chef, as long as you have good ingredients, you can’t really go wrong – especially with this recipe.

What makes this recipe fool-proof is how the pork belly is cooked – long, low and slow in a bath of wine. By cooking it this way, the meat is kept moist and juicy while still achieving crispy crackling. As the wine is an acid, it also helps to cut through the fattiness of the pork, while the rosemary and garlic perfume through the meat.

This is a recipe that I have been using for years as well, so it’s definitely well tested. It’s something we make for especially occasions, including Adam’s birthday for the 4th year running this May (if that gives you an idea of how old it is)!

Best Ever Roast Pork Belly
Serves 6 - 8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 3 ½  hours
Rest time: 20 minutes

Roast Pork Belly
1.2kg pork belly
1-2 bulbs of garlic
8-12 large sprigs of rosemary
750ml good white wine
Salt – flaky sea salt is best

Gravy
1 stock cube (I use chicken)
2 teaspoons corn flour

Start by pre-heating your oven to 140°C fan bake.

Next, prepare the garlic to line the baking dish. Depending on the size of your pork belly and the baking dish you are using, you may need 1 – 2 bulbs. When it comes to selecting a baking dish, use a deep baking dish – such as one used for a lasagna.

With the garlic, peel each clove before placing along the bottom of the baking dish. The best way to peel garlic is to cut off the ends and light crush with the blade of the knife. Once lightly crushed, the skins should just peel off. If you are concerned you do not have enough garlic to line the entire baking dish, you can place it just where the pork is going to sit but ideally it will cover the bottom of the dish. The idea is to create a bed for the pork to sit on so it’s never actually touching the bottom of the baking dish.

Next, place the rosemary sprigs on top of the garlic. Again, it is ideal for this to cover the entire baking dish but if you do not have enough, place exactly where the pork will rest on top.

After the baking dish has been lined with the garlic and rosemary, it’s time to prepare the pork.

Firstly, check to see if it the skin has been scored. Most butchers sell their pork belly already scored or will happily do it for you if asked. If you get home and it still needs doing, it’s very straight forward. All you need is a sharp knife.

To score the skin, drag the tip of a sharp knife diagonally across the pork skin – do not cut into the actual meat, the key is to lightly pierce the skin so that salt can be rubbed into it. Once done, drag the knife the other direction so that you create a diamond pattern on the skin.  

After the skin has been scored, with a paper towel, dry the pork skin. I do this 2-3 times all over to make sure I’ve removed as much moisture as I can. Once the skin has been dried, you will need to salt it. Rub salt generously all over the pork belly, getting deep into the scored skin. The salt helps the skin blister in the hot oven, creating a beautiful, crisp crackling.

Next, pour around 200mls of wine into the middle of the baking dish. Place the prepared pork belly on top of the bed of rosemary and garlic, skin side up. With the remaining wine – taking care not to get the pork skin wet – slowly pour around the pork in the baking dish until it nearly reaches the skin Depending on the size of your pork belly and baking dish, you may not need the entire bottle.

Now the pork is ready to be cooked. Carefully place the pork belly in the preheated oven and allow to bake for three hours at 140°C fan bake.

After three hours, turn the heat up to 240°C fan bake and cook for a further 20 - 30 minutes or until the skin has turned into perfect crackling.

Once the pork belly is cooked and the skin turned into crackling, remove the baking dish from the oven. Place the pork belly on a chopping board to rest for 20 minutes. While the meat is resting, make the gravy.

Pour the wine, pork juices, rosemary and garlic into a pot. Add the stock cube and bring to the boil. Combine a tablespoon of boiling water with the corn flour and add to the pot. Stir continuously until the gravy has reduced and started to thicken.

Strain and pour into a serving jug before slicing your pork belly. While you can serve this with roast potatoes, I love serving it with a side of my bacon brussels sprouts.