Crispy Roasted Pork Belly (Thit Heo Quay)
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Thịt Heo Quay (Vietnamese Roasted Pork Belly)
Some people like to take long romantic walks along the beach. I like to take long romantic walks through Chinatown. Nothing gets me going more than beautifully roasted meat carcasses hanging in windows at Chinese BBQ shops.
It's truly a magical place for meat lovers. You have roasted pork, roasted duck, roasted chicken, BBQ'd pork, BBQ'd duck, BBQ'd chicken and sometimes even innards of sorts, all covered in a sweet and sticky glaze. Out of all the meaty goodness, the most tantalizing is the roasted pork belly, also known as Thit Heo Quay in Vietnamese or Siu Yuk in Cantonese.
What makes the roasted pork so tantalizing? It's all about textures. You get the first layer of crispy skin, then the second layer of juicy fat, and lastly, the layer of tender meat. Each bite is literally an explosion of textures.
Because ordering at Chinese BBQ shops has proven to be very difficult for me (elderly Chinese women are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to queuing), I have been successfully making these porky deliciousness at home .... of course, after many, many failed attempts. Below are tips to get perfectly crispy and delicious roasted pork belly.
Tips
Get a slab of pork belly that is even in height all around.
An uneven slab won't cook evenly but more importantly, crisping up skin will be very difficult. If you do get an uneven slab of pork belly, where one side is thicker than the other, simply cut the pork belly into pieces of equal height and cook them separately.
If you are known for making dried meat, get bone-in pork belly.
Bone-in pork belly makes the meat more flavorful and moist. The only downside is not being able to cut the roast easily into bite-size pieces.
Use a roasting pan.
It’s important not to let the pork sit in its own juices. We roast skin-side down at the beginning. If pork is directly on a flat surface, that skin is going to absorb a lot of the pan drippings. This will prevent it from crisping up later. It’s best to use a roasting pan with a wire or slotted rack to keep away the pan drippings.
If all fails, go to Chinatown and save yourself the trouble. They are cheap.
Thit Heo Quay (Vietnamese Roasted Pork Belly)
Vietnamese/Chinese Crispy Roasted Pork Belly (Thit Heo Quay)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Bring a large pot to a boil. Add aromatics (ginger, scallions, shallots, star anise, coriander seeds, clove and cinnamon stick) and pork belly. Cook for 30 minutes on a low simmer. Remove pork belly from pot. Cut slits onto pork skin and its underside.
- In a small bowl, make the marinade by mixing together five-spice powder, sugar, salt, chicken bouillon powder, cooking wine and white vinegar. Apply all over pork belly.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the pork skin-side down on a roasting pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate and flip pork with skin facing up. Bake for another 15 minutes.
- Switch to broil at 400°F for 15 minutes until skin is puffy and crispy. Rotate if necessary for even crispiness. Be careful of pork skin explosions.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
1431Fat
145Sat. Fat
53Carbs
4Fiber
1Net carbs
3Sugar
3Protein
26Sodium
792Cholesterol
196The values provided should be considered estimates. Factors such as brands purchased, natural variations in fresh ingredients, etc. will change the nutritional information in any recipe. To obtain accurate nutritional information for a recipe, use your preferred nutrition calculator to determine nutritional information with the actual ingredients and quantities used.
