Pork Belly

[rlibkind]

I'm sure the supermarkets in Elizabeth carry it, since it's a relatively inexpensive cut. Are there any butcher shops along Elizabeth Avenue? In Union, 10-15 minutes from central Elizabeth, are two or three great pork stores/wurstgesheffts (it's a heavily Germanic community) and I have no doubt you could get fresh pork belly there. But I've gotta believe one of the Hispanic butchers in Elizabeth will have it. Or one of the Italian markets in the 'Burg, like Centanni's at 815 2nd Ave.

[k43]

It's a staple in Szechuan cooking. Try one of the Chinese supermarkets.

[Busboy]

We find ours in Asian and Latin markets.

[Daniel]

Thanks for your help.. Just recently, with in the past two years, started to eat pork believe it or not.. Besides, bacon, pancetta, or prosciutto, I have not cooked with pork before.. Found the pork belly at Esposito's Market on 38th street.. Very excited for this meal.. Thanks again..

Daniel

[The Hersch]

Down here in the south, it mostly goes by the name "fresh side meat". I have a butcher who almost always has some, and if there's none already cut he'll go into the walk-in and butcher some for me.

[melonpan]

We find ours in Asian and Latin markets.

easily found at both korean and japanese markets.

as you can see, lots of different people love pork belly and if you look in the right places you wont find it so hard to find.

i believe there are some decently sized korean markets in manhattan... and of course flushing and edgewater are other farther away options that will definitely have pork belly for sale.

[DaleJ]

I bought, a few weeks ago, eighteen pounds of pork belly (skinned)and I've done PW's recipie from the Southwest France book. First attempt was fine, the second a little tough, but still tasty. I need alternate recipie(s) since I've only gone through a third of the meat and I need the freezer space. Help, please.

[davecap]

I bought, a few weeks ago, eighteen pounds of pork belly (skinned)and I've done PW's recipie from the Southwest France book.  First attempt was fine, the second a little tough, but still tasty.  I need alternate recipie(s) since I've only gone through a third of the meat and I need the freezer space.  Help, please.

←

How about some bacon or some sausage? I get my pork belly with the skin on, take it off myself and make some great pork rinds. My 2 two year old daughter loves the crunch.

Tom Aikens makes a great braised pork belly, recipe below, that is then sauteed with scallops and a white chicken stock infused with rosemary.

Braised Pork Belly

1 whole pork belly

half a bunch of thyme

1 bunch parsley

2 garlic bulbs, split in half

5 carrots, peeled and split in half

4 leeks, split in half

5 onions, peeled and halved

8 shallots, peeled and halved

1 bunch celery, cleaned and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons sea salt

Step 1: Place the Belly in a pot of cold water for 24 hours, then drain and refresh with cold water and bring to a boil. As soon as boiling, drain the water, and repeat the fresh water/boiling procedure.

Step 2: Refresh the belly with cold water and add the aromatics and the salt. At this stage, if you like different poaching flavors, you could add whatever you want, juniper, cardamom, star anise, whatever. I like star anise so I would add to the poaching liquid.

Step 3: Bring the pot to a boil, reduce to medium heat. Cover and let poach for approximately 5 hours, until the belly is fully cooked through.

Step 4: When the belly is cooked, place on a parchment lined pan and cover with plastic wrap or more parchment. Place another sheet pan on top with some weights in it to keep the belly flat. Place in the refrigerator fro @ 12 hours. The weighted sheet pan with make the belly lay flat and will encourage browning on all sides when searing.

[chef koo]

skinned? pfft! but if you must i like my mom's kimchi jigae. also for a banquet i braised it in maple syrup and pork stock. i got the idea from when i dip my bacon in syrup with pancakes

[Michael Ruhlman]

you must confit some of it! this way you can keep it in the back of the fridge for months, a great method for when you have an abundance, which is why the method began in the first place!

[Werdna]

I made a wonderfull pozole the other week with low (180 F) braised pork belly, my wife and I spent 3 days eating almost nothing else.

[iain]

Think it's possible to smoke pork belly? I know, I know...that's bacon. But bacon is cold smoked, right? I'm talking about smoking it barbeque style - using a Weber Bullet - at like 225 degrees for a few hours. I'm sure someone has tried this. Any luck?

Edited August 17, 2006 by iain (log)

[fitzy]

eGullet virgin here. A chinese/irish friend of mine gave me the simplest and most mouthwateringly delicious recipe for pork belly. He should know given his ancestry. Marinate pork belly in soy sauce and chinese five spice for a few hours. Heat up your grill (I'm thinking electric grill i.e. you put your food under it) and put the pork belly in a grill pan a good way underneath it (so it doesn't burn). Leave for at least 40 minutes basting every so often with the marinade. It comes out unbelievably crispy yet tender. Who needs carbs?

[fodgycakes]

I love Vietnamese-style braised pork in caramel sauce (thit kho)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 pound pork belly or side pork, or Boston butt, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/4 cup fish sauce

2-4 garlic cloves, slivered

1 shallot slivered

1 tablespoon peeled, slivered fresh ginger

1 cup fresh or frozen coconut water (not coconut milk, you want the coconut juice) or sub water or stock

2-4 hard-boiled eggs.. you can leave them whole or cut them in half or quarters

Marinate the pork with garlic, shallot, ginger, and fish sauce. If you're in a hurry, just let it sit for 10 minutes, if you have the time or were able to start this earlier you can leave this in the fridge for a few hours.

When it's cooking time, caramelize the sugar with a bit of water on medium until it's a nice brown.

Turn the heat to high and add the marinated pork + juices, stirring. Add the coconut water or other liquid. It should just cover the pork belly, you can add more liquid if necessary.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the eggs and cover. Let everything simmer for 45 minutes.

Then remove the cover and continue simmering until the liquid reduces to about a third way on the pork (or just to your taste).

Serve with rice. I love mashing the egg and sauce into the rice, then eating the pork. The pork is similar to Chinese braised pork.. the pork fat is not rendered all the way and is a bit chewy.

[Nina C.]

I just had Filipino-style deep fried pork belly at a unremarkable pan-asian place in Manhattan. Unlike most DFPB I have seen in pictures, this was lightly fried so that you could still see the striations of fat. I didn't order the dish, just nibbled off a friend's plate so I had one piece as soon as it was set down on the table, and one piece about 10 minutes later.

The first piece was incredible - a literal burst in my mouth of porky goodness. The second piece was still hot, but not hot enough to burst like that, and wasn't as good.

So my goal now is to once again go to that restaurant and get someone else to order DFPB who won't mind my scavenger ways. Of course I could just make it at home, standing to eat right next to the deep fryer. Any oil burns will be worth it.

[maher]

Think it's possible to smoke pork belly? I know, I know...that's bacon. But bacon is cold smoked, right? I'm talking about smoking it barbeque style - using a Weber Bullet - at like 225 degrees for a few hours. I'm sure someone has tried this. Any luck?

←

check out the charcuterie thread. basically you can hot smoke bacon but you have to cure it first. there is a ton of info in that thread

[Varmint]

Ashley Christensen, chef of Raleigh's Enoteca Vin, brines her pork belly in a smokey lapsang oolong tea mixture before cooking. That imparts a clear smokiness to the pork belly. Unbelievably good.

[Chris Amirault]

I'm bumping this topic up because a group of us have been getting slabs of pork belly from Niman Ranch up Providence way (click) and are starting to fiddle around with it. I've already made this great braised pork belly dish from Marcus Wareing in The Cook's Book, and I think I'll tie up some of the 8 pounds I have for this. I also need to make some salt pork for beans and, of course, need more bacon.

You?

[Prawncrackers]

Now there's a happy coincedence Chris, a fresh thread in the Chinese forum on making Roast Belly Pork (Siu Yook) has just been started. Includes a fool-proof way of getting the perfect crackling skin as you would from Chinatown

[Chris Amirault]

Looks great to me. I ended up trimming a smallish 6 lb belly down to 5 lbs. The trim is curing as salt pork; the slab is curing for pancetta.

[bwv544]

i'm so happy this thread exists....

my father is addicted to Chinese braised pork belly, but my mother won't let him have it. i've eaten it twice in my childhood---the first time, i had to scrape off all the fat and give it to my father, and the second time both of us were denied that melting, yummy goodness...

now that i'm in college my mother still won't tell me how to make it. but now it looks like i won't need her!

i have a question about the braising liquid/process for it....is it the same as the stuff i would use for "lu dan" (braised eggs) or braised pig feet, for example? except the "lu" my mother taught me consists of: soy sauce, rice wine, coke (can be flat, doesn't matter), star anise, szechuan peppercorns, a chili pepper, orange rind, water/broth to cover. is this proper for pork belly as well?

[David Ross]

One of my favorite cuts of pork to be sure. Oh the fatty belly. It's about the only cut of pork that I can get close to the fatty and delicious pork we ate when I was a kid-about 40 years ago and long before that silly "the other white meat" marketing campaign.

I buy fresh pork belly from a local Asian market. But I cook it in different styles-sometimes Asian, sometimes American with French influences.

I usually cut the outer rind off and leave the thick layer of fat on. I only season the pork with salt, black pepper and sometimes a bit of Cajun seasoning. I stick it in a large Le Creuset pot and add the lid. I don't add extra liquid to the pot-the pork belly oozes juice and fat, which creates steam and cooking liquid for the pork to braise in.

I usually braise the belly in a 275 oven for 4-hours for a 3-4lb. chunk of meat.

I take the pork belly out of the oven and stick it on a cookie rack over a sheet pan and then stick it back in the oven under the broiler to crisp the skin. The meat always turns out incredibly juicy, the skin very crisp.

Here are some photos of a pork belly I cooked using this method. It was served with mashed potatoes and a green peppercorn sauce.

[ojisan]

I usually cut the outer rind off and leave the thick layer of fat on...

... and then stick it back in the oven under the broiler to crisp the skin.  The meat always turns out incredibly juicy, the skin very crisp..

You cut the skin off, and then put it under the broiler to crisp the skin which you've cut off?

[David Ross]

I usually cut the outer rind off and leave the thick layer of fat on...

... and then stick it back in the oven under the broiler to crisp the skin.  The meat always turns out incredibly juicy, the skin very crisp..

You cut the skin off, and then put it under the broiler to crisp the skin which you've cut off?

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No-I just cut the outer 'rind' which is the outer skin of the pig. I leave the layer of fat that is just under the rind. I find the rind can be incrediby tough when it is crisp. So I cut that off and leave the remaining fat layer. That layer of fat protects the meat yet leaves you with enough fat to get a crispy layer. Sorry, my previous answer wasn't totally clear. Good question.

[Harry91]

So I ate at Perilla recently (Harold Deterle's new restaurant in NY), and I have to say, the pork belly app was pretty amazing. I have a place nearby that happens to sell Berkshire Pork Belly, but alas, I have no idea how to cook it. Articles i've read on the net all say that you need to sear it in a pan, and then finish in the oven. A few others mentioned braising, but i'm more interested in a crispy skin.

Anyone have any tips on cooking pork belly? How long to leave in oven? What to pair with it (imho, it is relatively orgasmic by itself).

Harry