Crispy Five Spice Pork Belly

By: The Culinary Cartel

Cooking Technique

Keywords

4 servings, air fry, as needed, broccoli, chinese five-spice, coarse salt, meat, oil, pork, pork belly, rice wine vinegar, salt, sesame oil, sesame seeds toasted, sugar, white pepper

Servings

4 Servings

Ingredients

1 tsp salt
Salt as needed
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp Chinese five-spice
¼ tsp ground white pepper
900 g pork belly
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
60 g coarse salt
350 g tenderstem Broccoli
1 tsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Black sesame seeds toasted

Instructions

In a bowl, combine the spice mix ingredients together.
Place the pork belly on a chopping board, skin side down and lightly score the meat about half a centimetre deep, at one-centimetre intervals. Rub the spice mix into the meat, massaging into the cuts. Should any spice mix touch the skin, wipe it off with a paper towel.
Flip the pork belly so the skin side is now facing up and use a sharp metal skewer to prick the pork skin lightly all over (do not pierce too deep). This is a crucial step to ensure the skin puffs during cooking. The more pricks you can make, the puffier the crackling will be, so take your time.
Then, put the pork belly into the fridge, uncovered, overnight.
Once ready to cook, place a large piece of heavy duty tinfoil on a surface and fold it in half to strengthen it.
Place the pork into the middle of the foil and fold the foil into a snug shape around the belly meat. Fold and pinch the tinfoil as needed to secure the cooking juices, and ensure the foil doesn’t reach up over the pork skin. Once complete the belly meat will be snugly wrapped in a foil tray, leaving the crackling exposed.
Using a pastry brush, brush the vinegar over the pork skin, then cover the skin in a layer of coarse sea salt.
Carefully lower the pork belly into Drawer 1 of your Air Fryer.
Select Roast on this drawer and set the temperature to 160°C / 320°F and the time to either 40 or 50 Minutes. For a thin belly, choose 40 Minutes, but a thicker belly choose 50 Minutes.
Whilst the pork belly roasts, prepare your sesame broccoli. Wash the tenderstem and removing any stray leaves, then toss in a little vegetable oil.
Season the broccoli with a pinch of salt.
When the pork has finished roasting, check that the meat in soft and tender, and then lift the salt layer from the skin to expose the crackling, and close the drawer again.
Place the prepared tenderstem broccoli into the second drawer.
On drawer 1 (pork) select Air Fry and set the temperature to 200°C / 400°F and time to 15 Minutes. Select SyncFinish to ensure both drawers finish at the same time.
On drawer 2 (broccoli) select Grill, and set the temperature to 200°C / 400°F and time to 5 Minutes.
Once cooked, the pork should have a crispy puffed skin and the broccoli should be just tender with a little bite, and some charring.
Remove both from the drawers and set the pork aside in a warm spot for a quick rest before carving.
Drizzle the sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds over the broccoli.
Plate up your sesame broccoli alongside steamed rice and sauce of choice, then cut the pork belly and serve.