MIke's Famous Pork Belly

MIke's recipe for slow braised Chinese pork belly - the one that won a family Chinese cook-off one memorable visit many years ago. never forgotten and recreated Jan 2026

Delicious with plain jasmine rice, Pak Choi and beansprouts

Planning

Prep 10 mins

Marinate 1-24 hours

Cook 2 hours plus finishing and rest time

Serves 4 - keeps really well, possibly better cold next day

Ingredients,

• best belly pork, skin well scored with sharp knife.

• Boned is best but not essential.

For the italian dry rub

• 2 parts garlic powder

• 12 parts onion powder

• 1 part black pepper

• 1 part fine sea salt

• 1 part smoked paprika

• 1 part oregano

For the chinese dry rub

• substitute the paprika and herb with chinese spices and soya

• 5 spice

• well ground star anise or allspice

• Szechuan pepper could replace black

• chilli optional

Dry the pork and rub in plenty of dry rub, leave 1-24 hours

Place in a deep tray lined with foil then baking parchment( the meat will stick to the foil alone!) add a splash of white wine, lemon juice and water (or soy sauce). Cover with the same parchment and foil, seal round the edges

Cook in a low oven 150 ish for about 2 hours until tender to the point of a knife. Uncover, drain off the liquid. Raise the temperature and cook until the top glazes up or skin crackles, if needed you can brush with balsamic and honey or something similar.

Cool the liquid to remove fat, make a sauce to serve.

Rest and carve/serve.

This is similar to our pork spare rib recipe which uses a wet overnight marinade and produces more sauce.

Note Italian version goes well with quick roast cavolo Nero, rosemary, garlic roast parmentier potatoes.

Chinese version goes well with plain rice, pak choi and beansprouts. Keep any extra dry rub in airtight container, use for roasts etc

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