Crispy Pork Belly (Air Fryer or Oven)

This recipe teaches you an easy method to make Crispy Pork Belly in an air fryer or in an oven.

We will use white vinegar to soften the skin, then use kosher salt to absorb the moisture. In this way, we can make the pork belly meat juicy, tender, and flavorful, and the crackling crazily crispy.

Norwegian VS Cantonese Crispy Pork Belly

Crispy pork belly, originated in Norway (it’s called “Ribbe” pork belly in Norwegian), is a main dish of Christmas dinner, alongside roast turkey.

It is said that a Macau chef happened to taste this dish in a Norway restaurant and was deeply impressed by its unique texture. Although he didn’t get to learn the authentic recipe of the Norwegian Ribble pork belly, he returned to his hometown and created his own version of crispy pork belly (脆皮五花肉).

Nowadays, the Macau chef’s version of crispy pork belly has been classified into Cantonese recipes and became an iconic Hong Kong-style café dish.

Although Norwegian and Cantonese crispy pork belly are made with different seasonings and in different methods, they are both characterized by crispy crackling, juicy fat, tender meat, and savory aroma.

To Make Norwegian Crispy Pork Belly:

• Make shallow cuts or prick holes on the pork belly skin side.
• Marinate the pork belly with dry spices, place it over aromatic vegetables, herbs, and water/beer, cover them with foil then bake (it’s actually more like “steaming in the oven“), and save the released liquid to make a gravy.

• Remove the foil and bake at a high temperature (about 450 F) until the pork skin gets brown and crispy.

• Norwegian Crispy Pork Belly is served with the gravy made from the meat juice.

To Make Cantonese Crispy Pork Belly:

• Preboil the pork belly for 20 minutes until it’s half-cooked.
• Marinate all sides except the skin side of the pork belly with Chinese BBQ marinade sauce, brush white vinegar on the skin side to soften the skin.
• Remove the marinate, cover the meat sides with foil, add a thick layer of kosher salt to absorb liquid from the pork.
• Air fry or bake until the pork belly is fully cooked, remove the salt, then air fry or bake again until the skin is full of bubbles.
• Serve with sugar, instead of gravy, in a small dipping plate.

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Important Tips for Making Crispy Pork Belly

In this recipe, we are going to make Cantonese crispy pork belly. Before you start, make sure you read these important tips for making successful crispy pork belly:

1. Prick 200 holes on the skin side.

I literally counted to 200 as I pricked. 😂

You can prick more holes to make the cracking even crispier, but you will need at least 200 holes for a piece of 1.5 lb pork belly.

It won’t take you too long.

Let’s say if you prick 1 hole per second, you will only need 200 seconds (about 3 minutes) to finish this step. That’s not crazy at all.

If you have a meat tenderizer, which could prick multiple holes at once, you can finish this step within 1 minute.

You can also use a toothpick or a fork, since the cooked pork belly skin is soft and very easy to be pricked through.👍

*Make sure you only prick into the skin layer (the brown layer), not into the fat layer (the white layer) or the meat layer, see picture below.

Otherwise, the pork belly will release too much juice through the hole, which will cause dry (instead of juicy) meat and chewy (instead of crispy) skin.

2. White vinegar is a must-have

White vinegar in this recipe can not only remove the smell and enhance the fragrance, but also soften the skin and allow it to “bubble up” after roasted.

You could probably substitute white vinegar with apple cider vinegar. But keep it in mind that apple cider vinegar has a lower acid concentration (2 to 3%) than white vinegar (about 5%).

Therefore, crispy pork belly made with white vinegar is definitely going to bubble up better than the apple cider vinegar one.

*After you brush the vinegar, make sure the skin is naturally dried before you add kosher salt. Otherwise, the salt will dissolve into the vinegar, and make the crispy pork belly tastes too salty.

3. Kosher salt is optional if you use an air fryer

Traditionally, we will need to apply a thick layer of kosher salt on the pork belly skin to absorb any liquid released from the holes.

Because if there’s water on the skin, the temperature of the skin won’t go higher than water’s boiling point, which is 212 °F/ 100 °C.

However, the skin has to be roasted at a much higher temperature, higher than 400 °F/ 200 °C, to form a crispy cracking. That’s why we use kosher salt to absorb the moisture.

However, if you are going to use an air fryer, the hot wind circulation will quickly dry up the surface of the skin. Therefore, you can skip the kosher salt and get a similarly crispy cracking win an air fryer.

The kosher salt is necessary if you are going to use an oven.

EQUIPMENT for making Crispy Pork Belly

• A medium pot

• An air Fryer (Or Oven)

• Foil

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 lb pork belly
• 2 green onions (optional)
• 4 slices ginger (optional)
• 2 tbsp cooking wine (optional)

For marinating

• 3 tbsp salt free bbq dry rub (You can make your own by following any bbq rub recipes you like but do not add salt in your homemade bbq rub.)
• 1 tbsp regular soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• ½ tbsp sesame oil (Can be substitute with olive oil or other cooking oil.)

For the crispy skin

• 1 tbsp white vinegar

• 4 tbsp kosher salt

DETAILED STEPS 

1. Add the pork belly, green onions, ginger slices, and cooking wine to a medium pot. Add enough cold water to immerse all the ingredients, bring to a boil over high heat, skin off any scum with a ladle. Cover the lid, simmer the pork belly over medium low heat for 20 minutes.

2. Transfer the pork belly to a plate with the skin side up. Prick about 200 shallow holes (see pictures above) on the skin, using a toothpick, a fork, or a meat tenderizer. Use some kitchen paper to wipe off any oil or water released from these holes.

3. Mix all the marinade ingredients (see ingredient list above) in a small bowl, apply and massage the marinade on 5 meat sides of the pork belly, expect the skin side.

4. Cover the 5 marinated sides with plastic food wrap or foil, leave the skin side uncovered.

5. Brush 1 tbsp of white vinegar on the skin side. Keep the pork belly in the fridge, allow the skin side to dry up overnight (or at least for 2 hours).

6. Take the pork belly out from the fridge, use some kitchen paper to wipe off the marinade as much as you can (the marinade gets burnt easily in the air fryer).

7. Fold a piece of foil into a box to cover the 5 marinated sides, sprinkle a layer of kosher salt on the skin side.

8. Air fry the pork belly at 400 °F / 200 °C for 20 minutes. (Or bake on the top rack of the oven at 450 °F / 230 °C for 30 minutes.)

9. Take the pork belly out from the air fryer/oven, use a knife to remove the kosher salt, then use a kitchen paper to thoroughly wipe pork belly and remove any residual salt.

10. Loosely cover the bottom of the pork belly with a piece of foil (or you can leave the pork belly uncovered if you don’t mind washing the air fryer basket). Air fry the pork belly at 400 °F / 200 °C for 10 to 15 minutes, until there are bubbles all over the skin. (Or bake on the top rack of the oven at 430 °F / 220 °C for 15 to 20 minutes.)

11. Take it out from the air fryer/oven, allow it to cool down a bit before cutting. Once it’s not too hot to touch, cut it into bite size slices, serve hot with a small dipping plate of sugar.

Crispy Pork Belly Q&A

Feel free to leave your questions in the comment section below.

1. What sauce goes well with crispy pork belly?

Cantonese crispy pork belly is usually served with a small plate of sugar, no other dipping sauce is needed.

It’s because that the kosher salt in this recipe will to some degree make the crispy pork belly taste salty. Some sweetness from the sugar can well balance the salty taste.

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