Thursday Pork Belly for Chris

Chris asked me last night if he should blog about the left over frozen pizza he was planning on reheating tonight since I will not be home.  Oh, you are in luck I said.  I had a piece of pork belly in the freezer which I bought and never got around to using.  I pulled it out of the freezer yesterday morning and after it defrosted, I combined kosher salt, sugar and 5 spice powder and rubbed it into the pork.  I placed into a shallow pan, covered it and let marinate in the refrigerator overnight.  This morning, I took it out and rinsed off the rub and placed it back in the frige until ready to cook.

Take the pork out and let come to room temperature.  My piece of pork belly did not have the skin on it, just a layer of fat.  It should have the skin on if you want crispy pork belly.  Pierce skin all over with a fork.  This will help the crackling crisp up.  Place pork skin side up on a rack set on a baking sheet and put into 450f oven and roast for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and pierce skin once again with fork.  Reduce oven to 400f and roast for another 45 minutes.  Let pork rest for 20 minutes before slicing.  Serve with steamed buns, cilantro, thinly sliced green onions, chili sauce and plum sauce.  Make your bun to your liking.. use everything or nothing at all.