This is a Crispy Pork Belly recipe, just like you get from the Chinese BBQ meat shop! The best crackling in the world with juicy seasoned flesh, no one does crispy pork belly like the Chinese.
And this is how they make it. (It’s easy!)
Chinese Crispy Pork Belly recipe
In my humble opinion, the Chinese are the undisputed king of two things: crispy duck and crispy pork belly.
It’s unlikely that I will ever share a proper Peking Duck recipe because it’s too hard to make properly in an ordinary home kitchen.
Pork belly, on the other hand, is totally doable. That juicy, seasoned flesh. But mostly, it’s all about…..
The best crackling in the world
Chinese pork belly crackling is, in my humble opinion, the best crackling in the world. With the signature puffy bubbles all over, this Pork Belly Crackling is crispy and crumbly in a way that you will never achieve on a pork roast, even pulling out all the secret crackling tips.
That’s what makes Chinese Crispy Pork Belly so sought after. The reason why the best Chinese BBQ meat shops have queues around the block on weekends.
And today, my friends, you’re going to see how easy it is to make your own Chinese pork belly that comes out looking just like this ↓↓↓.
The secret to the best pork belly in the world
And here are the two secrets to perfect crispy pork belly that the Chinese discovered*:
1. Pricking lots of holes in the skin = puffy crackling with bubbles. This is what makes all the difference, yielding that beautiful bubbly crackling that is so unique to Chinese pork belly.
The Chinese have a special tool that they use to prick the skin. Me, I have my Basic Instinct moment and use an ice pick. It works remarkably well. But anything that is pointy and sharp will work just fine – for example, metal skewers.
And yes, if you find it all too hard, you can skip this pricking step. More on that below in the Easy Non Pricking Method. 🙂
* I credit them for this genius discovery, but I’m not actually sure if they discovered it!
2. Roast covered in rock salt = crispy crackling. Salt draws moisture to the surface, helping to guarantee you’ll get crispy crackling every single time. And yes, it works whether you do the pricking or not. Again, more on that below.
Why rock salt?
Rock salt is easy to remove and also will not penetrate into the holes while roasting, making the pork far too salty.
The pork belly is first roasted with the salt crust, then the salt crust is removed. At this stage, the skin is rubbery and looks thoroughly unappetising (step 7 above).
All it takes to transform the ugly ducking into a crispy golden swan is to stick it under the grill/broiler for 25 minutes. Watch in amazement as it starts to puff and crackle and becomes soo crispy!!!
Pork Belly Marinade
The pork flesh is infused with subtle flavour by marinating it in classic Chinese flavours – Chinese cooking wine (or dry sherry or even Mirin), five spice powder, salt and white pepper.
There are some Chinese pork belly recipes “out there” that don’t marinate, but I really think it’s worth the time to do this otherwise the flesh somewhat lacks Chinese flavour (in my humble opinion).
ALTERNATIVE:
EASY NON PRICKING METHOD
If you don’t have something suitable for or are having troubles pricking the skin, don’t be sad, there is another way to Chinese Crispy Pork Belly heaven!
With this alternative method which is virtually foolproof, you can skip pricking the skin and the crackling will still be outrageously crispy, however, it will not have the signature puffy bubbles that Chinese Pork Belly is known for.
When you break the crackling, it will snap cleanly rather than partially crumbling which the puffy crackling does (which you can see in the video).
The reason this method is foolproof is because with the traditional Chinese method, if you are too enthusiastic with the pricking and pierce too far into the fat (or even worse, into the flesh), the juices will bubble up onto the skin, and the wetness as the skin is being grilled/broiled will cause little splotches where the skin is not super crispy.
Doesn’t the crackling using this simple Alternative Method look almost impossibly perfect?? Check out that colour!
How to serve crispy pork belly
This is the typical way to serve it: cut into slices, then each slice cut into smaller pieces. Small pieces is the go here because pork belly is rich!
As for sauce, Chinese pork belly is typically served with mustard. Either your everyday yellow mustard or Hot English Mustard which is my favourite. The kick of fresh heat pairs so well with the richness of the pork belly!
I’ve also had it served with white sugar. Just a small dish of everyday white sugar that you dip the pork into. It’s really good.
As for sides, because pork belly is rich, I just serve it with plain fresh vegetables. My favourite is cucumber and radish because they’re so fresh and radish also has a kick of spiciness.
Plus, they add great colour to the plate, don’t you think?
Chinese Crispy Pork Belly – SUMMARY
I realise there’s a lot of information in the above, so I though it would be useful to finish with a summary. ❤️
Traditional Chinese Crispy Pork Belly has a golden puffy crispy crackling that almost crumbles when you bite into it. It’s complete and utter bliss to experience!
To make puffy crackling, you need to prick lots and lots of little holes in the skin. If you accidentally prick too far into the fat under the skin, or even worse, the flesh, this may cause juices to bubble to the surface which may result in some splotches that are not 100% crisp. The Chinese have a special tool to do this. I use an ice pick (aka my Basic Instinct moment?).
If pricking the holes seems like too hard work, skip it and opt for the Alternative Easy Non Pricking Method for Crispy Pork Belly
The Alternative Easy Non Pricking Method yields a crackling that is a beautiful golden brown that is outrageously crispy but without bubbly crackling. The crackling snaps rather than crumbles like the authentic Crispy Chinese Pork Belly. It is still a stunning crackling that many people dream of. ☺️ This method is very easy with guaranteed crispy crackling, every single time.
DO NOT SKIP THE VIDEO!! Just wait until you hear how crispy that crackling is!!
To all crackling lovers out there, this one is for YOU! – Nagi x
PS Oh wait, it’s also for Chinese New Year which is tomorrow! ❤️
More food for Chinese New Year
Celebrate Chinese New Year with the best of Chinese food!
- Potstickers – steamed dumplings with crispy golden undersides
- Spring Rolls – better than Egg Rolls!
- Fried Rice – Chinese takeout standard (no false promises)
- Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu) – just like you get from Chinese BBQ meat shops!
- Chinese Steamed Pork Buns – big fluffy white buns filled with BBQ pork
- Browse all Chinese Recipes and Asian Takeout copycat recipes
Crispy Chinese Pork Belly
Watch how to make it
Don’t watch this on Mute…. you want to hear how crispy that crackling is!!
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Chinese Crispy Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 1 pork belly, skin on (800 – 1.2kg / 1.6 – 2.4 lb) (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) (Note 2)
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder (Note 3)
- 1 tsp white pepper (sub black pepper)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp white vinegar (helps conduct heat evenly)
- 200 g / 7 oz rock salt (Note 4)
Instructions
Prepare Pork Belly
- Use an ice pick, sharp metal skewer or another tool to prick tons and tons of holes in the skin. Avoid piercing int o the fat as best you can, and really ensure you do not pierce the flesh (Note 5)
- Turn the pork belly upside down. Rub the flesh (not skin) with Chinese cooking wine, dribbling it on gradually. Sprinkle over five spice powder, salt and pepper. Rub all over flesh, including sides (not on skin).
- Turn skin side up and place in a container. Dab skin dry with paper towels. Refrigerate uncovered for 12 hours (max 24 hrs, min 3 hrs).
Cook:
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all oven types).
- Remove pork from fridge. Place onto a large sheet of foil. Fold up sides of foil around the pork to enclose it snugly (see photos in post or video) with a 1.5cm / 2/5″ rim above the pork skin (to hold salt in).
- Transfer pork to baking tray. Dab skin with paper towels.
- Brush skin with vinegar.
- Spread rock salt on the skin (the foil edges will stop it from falling down the sides).
- Roast for 60 minutes.
- Remove pork from oven and transfer onto work surface.
- Switch to grill/broiler on medium high. Move shelf so it is at least 25cm/10″ from the heat source.
- Fold down foil and scrape all the salt off the top and sides. Return pork only (i.e. discard foil) to baking tray.
- Place under grill/broiler for 20 – 25 minutes, rotating tray once, until skin is golden, crispy and puffed. (Note 6)
To Serve
- Remove pork onto cutting board. Slice into 1 – 1.5cm / 2/5 – 3/5″ thick slices, then into smaller slices like pictured in post.
- Serve with ordinary yellow mustard – or Hot English Mustard if you like spicy like me! Not Dijon, just ordinary American or other yellow mustard (yes really!). Sometimes it is served with white sugar on the side too. Add some fresh raw vegetables (I use cucumber and radish).
Recipe Notes:
- Follow recipe up to and including brushing with vinegar but do not prick skin.
- Cover skin with rock salt per recipe, OR use 1 cup kosher/cooking/table salt (enough to cover skin about 3 – 5 mm / 1/8 – 1/5″ thick). If you use fine grain salt, make sure the foil is VERY snug around the edges – if salt falls down the sides, it will make the flesh salty.
- Roast per recipe and scrape off salt.
- Instead of flicking to grill/broiler, turn the oven up to 240C/465F. For this method, oven works better to make skin crispy.
- Place pork on a rack and return to baking tray, roast for a further 30 minutes or until crackling is golden and crispy.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published January 2017. Entire post refreshed, new photos added, brand new (much better!) video. No change to recipe, though writing was cleaned up a bit.
‘Life of Dozer
I had many, many chances to catch this shot…. he was doing this the whole time I was shooting the pork belly!!
How do I alter the recipe to cook two of these at the same time?
Hi Ty! You should be able to do 2 at the same time, same cook time, just double the ingredients 🙂
Oh I must try this! It looks wonderful
YES YOU MUST! N x
I love to try to make this dish. However, my oven has only two settings bake and hi and low broil. What the temperature must be and what setting should i use for the first roasting?
Greetings from NY;
Thank you very much for the creative method , what sauce and condiments would you recomend with it, I prefer something that I can find in the supermarket or to mix few items that available in the kitchen ,I’m sure that the sauce that was suggested by one of readers is delicious , but it requires lot of ingredients that aren’t easy to find.
Thank you
Hi Sam! The classic is to serve with mustard! Please see the notes! N x
Question can this be made with no skin pork belly as that is all that is available to me.
sorry Annette! Not the same! 🙁 N x
This is by far the best Pork Belly recipe I have tried. Worked perfectly, I will buy an ice pick now to make it even more perfect 🙂
I saw someone looking for a duck sauce recipe in an earlier post. I use the following Cha-Siew recipe and it is fantastic with pork belly.
Cha-Siew Sauce
1/3 cup sugar
•3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
•2½ tbsp hoisin sauce
•1 tbsp dark soy sauce
•2 tsp soy sauce
•1 1/2 tbsp maltose (or honey if you must)
•1 tbsp Chinese rose wine (“mui guay lo”)
•1 tsp garlic powder
•1 tsp sesame oil
•1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp white pepper
•6 drops red food colouring (optional)
Just combine all ingredients and heat until sugar and maltose dissolves. No not let it cook to long or it becomes too thick.
I omit the salt, pepper and garlic as I don’t think it needs it. I also use brown sugar.
Sorry forgot to mention I use glucose syrup instead of maltose and Chinese rice wine not Rose wine
That’s great to hear Gail! Thanks so much of sharing that sauce! N x
Thanks for the recipe! I didnt have rock salt so I used plain table salt, but i used a trick I saw in another video where you mix it with a small amount of water to make a thick paste which you spread over the pork skin. This prevents the smaller salt crystals from going into the holes, and the paste turns into a hard crust almost immediately after going into the oven. Turned out great!
Wow! What a great trick, thank you for the tip! N x
Hi Nagi, just a quick question. Can i use a table salt for the puffy crackling method? Thanks.
Hi Ardy! Problem is that it falls into the holes and makes it too salty. Best to stick to the version without the holes 🙂 Still super crackly crackling!
Hi Nagi San, I want to try this and have a question. What do you do with the salt after it is removed. Just throw them away? Can the salt be used again?
Hi Shihoko! You can re use it for sure in “meaty” things 🙂 But I would freeze it so that way the meat that’s on it doesn’t go off! N x
Ms. Nagi, I find it quite difficult to pierce the skin to make the holes on the pork skin, so l boiled the skin in 2.5mm of water for a few minutes to soften the skin, taking care not to boil the flesh n fat. I then use a fork to pierce the skin n it’s easier after you have boiled the skin.
Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe.
So kind of you to do that…. Before the Internet this method is a well guarded secret amongst the Chinese community.
God bless.
Hi Ben! Gosh I would worry that boiling the skin would make it so it doesn’t crisp up! Did it work for you?? If it works, what a brilliant tip! N xx
Made this for dinner last night. It’s going to become a regular thing, we agreed this after the first taste.
Just a tiny piece of belly, some plain steamed greens and instant food heaven.
And yes, we played “Tap the knife on the crackling” while we admired our handiwork – well, yours and ours.
Thanks for another excellent recipe, and tell your mum thanks for having such a talented, generous child.
PS: Rating only goes to 5 stars – can we vote twice?
Yes yes YESSSSSS!!!!! I’m so glad you had as much fun tapping that crackling as I did!!! N x
OMG Nagi!!! Once again, you have elevated me to ‘Legend’ status with my family.
I have only ever successfully made noisy crackling once and that was a fluke.
I recently renovated my kitchen and now have an intergrated oven/grill. I had been eyeing off this recipe for ages & chose my new oven accordingly 🤓
Thank you sooooo much. This was amazing!
Ps. My Barney 🐶 says “hi” to Dozer 🐶
BA HA HA!!! I LOVE hearing that Jacqui! Dozer says WOOF back to Barney! N xx
Hi Nagi, I’ve tried this recipe and it was amazing! My husband and I devoured it. Thank you for sharing. I’m making it again but this time I noticed my cut of pork belly has some white hair/bristles in it. I’ve tried to pluck them out with a fish bone tweezer but there are just so many! I was just wondering what it would be like after roasting it? Will they be so crisp you don’t notice it or will they be like bones!? Eek help!
So pleased you enjoyed it!! The hair won’t be like bones and you should be able to pull them out more easily after scraping the salt off before putting it in to crisp up 🙂 N xx
Hi, what woukd be the cause of the pork not developing the crackling? Mine has been in the oven for 40 mins already but no crackling yet.
Yes after scraping the salt off! Baked for 1 hour the. Scraped the salt off. 40 mins after in oven no crackling
Hi Ming! You mean it’s been in the oven for 40 minutes AFTER scraping the salt off?? 🙂 N x
Hi dear, first time visited your blog and its so tempting to try. By the way, do you need to defrozen the pork belly before we put them into the oven?
Hi Cyndi, welcome! Yes, please defrost the pork 🙂 N xx
I have some fresh frozen pork belly but unfortunately it does not have the skin on it. How and can I still prepare this the way you have stated here??
sorry, you need skin for this!
Hi Nagi
the quest for perfect pork crackling is like the quest for the perfect chip……….never ending. Started your recipe 2 days ago and with a little more research found an appropriate tool in my sewing kit (as you do)….. a felt needling tool. This has very fine and sharp needles and is fairly fast to use. I pricked the skin all over about 3 times although you could do more, it does not require any pressure on your part and punctures just the skin.
When it got to the actual crackling part in the oven I could hear the crackling OMG……….my husband heard me yell and thinking something was wrong came running, ok slight exageration, should get a life really.
Had the pork with rice and a salad with Vietnamese dressing, basically Nuoc Cham but made with coconut water not water.
Anyway it was seriously fabulous and gave a good even crunchy crackle all over not of the jaw breaking kind. Now to improve on this.! Thank you I am thrilled and will tune in for more recipes.
BA HA HA!!!! You crack me up Glenys! “Crack” – get it? 😉 N xx
Just curious, what type/brand of rock salt do you use? i just dont want to use the wrong kind.
I use Saxa, very mainstream brand here in Australia 🙂 N xx
This is soooooooooo easy and so delicious.
WHOOT! That’s fantastic to hear Sam, thanks for letting me know! N xx
Hi Eva! I’m sorry to hear that, but even without pricking, it should still go crispy if you used the salt crust method, just pop it back in the oven 🙂 For the grilling process, per step 12 – Medium High. 🙂
Me gusto su receta pero quiero hacerla me la puedes enviar traducía en español gracias