Honey Glazed Crispy Pork Belly

3 - Dinner, Side

Prep Time: 30 min Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min Total Time: 2 hrs Servings: 4 Source: keviniscooking.com

Ingredients

1 lb pork belly
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 cup honey
3 tbsp dry sherry

Description

Roasted and crunchy on the outside, fork-tender on the inside, this honey glazed crispy pork belly is simply mouth-watering!

Directions

HOW TO MAKE CRISPY PORK BELLY
Prepare The Meat. You can keep your pork belly as is, or you can slice it into two 10-inch by 1-inch by 1-inch slabs, depending on its size. To prepare it for cooking, score the skin with crosshatch marks using a sharp knife.
Add The Spice Rub. Place the cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt in a small bowl and mix. Then, rub the mix all over the pork belly. Make sure to press it so that it adheres to the meat. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. If you have time to leave it overnight, all the better!
Roast The Pork Belly. If you did refrigerate the meat overnight, make sure to bring it to room temperature an hour before you roast it. While you wait, preheat your oven to 350°F. Place the pork belly on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. You can also use a deep baking dish. Roast the meat uncovered for 60 minutes with the skin side up.
Make The Glaze. Combine the honey and dry sherry in a small bowl and then baste the meat with it to complete your honey glazed crispy pork belly recipe. Lower the temperature of your oven to 250°F and roast for 20 more minutes. Then, baste the meat once more and cook for 10 minutes.
Slice & Serve. Take your crispy pork belly out of the oven and allow it to cool a bit before slicing. Now you know how to cook pork belly. Enjoy!
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Keep whole or slice into 2 10" x 1" x 1" slabs of pork belly, depending on size of pork belly. Score the skin with a sharp knife with crosshatch marks.
In a small bowl mix together the spice rub. Rub the spice blend on all sides of the pork belly, pressing to ensure it adheres and is coated. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (preferably overnight).
If refrigerated over night, place on counter to come to room temperature an hour prior to roasting. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place pork belly on baking tray lined with parchment or a deep baking dish. Roast uncovered in greased pan for 60 minutes (skin side up).
In a small bowl combine honey and dry sherry. Baste pork belly with honey sherry mixture. Drop temperature to 250°F and continue to render for 20 minutes. Baste one more time and continue cooking for 10 more minutes.
Allow to cool slightly before slicing.

Notes

WHY IS MY PORK BELLY NOT CRISPY?
Pork naturally has a lot of excess moisture in it, so you need to dry it out a bit before roasting it in order to ensure that it crisps up nicely. You can do so with my dry rub — the salt helps to draw out that moisture. Letting it sit overnight in the fridge uncovered with the dry rub can also do much to help make sure that the meat gets crispy when roasted. If you have the time, don’t skip this step!

SHOULD YOU BOIL PORK BEFORE ROASTING?
One of the questions that often comes up around how to cook pork belly is whether or not you should boil the pork before roasting. Blanching the meat can help make scoring the meat easier and it helps to retain moisture. This extra step isn’t necessary for my honey glazed pork belly, as we want a crispy outside!

HOW DO YOU GET CRUNCHY CRACKLING ON PORK?
If you want your honey glazed pork belly recipe to be extra crispy, you can play around with the heat a bit and cook it for a lot longer. Roast it at 320°F for 2 and ½ hours, then crank up the temperature to 485°F for 30 minutes to get the crackling and crunchy results you’re after.

Nutrition