BBQ Pork Belly

Ingredients

Amount	Ingredient	Calories	Link
1/2 lbs.	Pork Belly With Skin	1175	Buy Fresh!
1 tsp.	Kosher Salt	0
1 tsp.	Black Pepper	7
1 tsp.	Garlic Powder	5
1 tsp.	Onion Powder	9
1 tsp.	Paprika	7

Preparation

We were walking the aisles at the grocery store when we stumbled upon these beauties in the meat section. Pork belly with the bone and skin still on. We couldn't believe our eyes! It's not often we see pork belly with the bone in. This is the first time we've ever seen pork belly with the skin still on at the grocery store. This highly priced cut of pork is usually only obtained from our local butcher, by special request only.

We had to have these and knew exactly what we were going to do. Gently cook the pork meat with lots of smoke and get that skin nice and crispy. In order to achieve our goals some preparation is necessary. In a baking tray place the pork skin side up. Cover the skin with kosher salt, literally. If you can still see pork skin then you need to add more salt. Place the salted pork skin in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, over night is better.

When complete, remove the pork and rinse all of the salt off in cold running water. Pay careful attention to remove all of the salt because we'll want to start with a fresh pallet when seasoning the pork. Pat the pork and skin dry. We cut hashes into the skin for presentation, however, this looks just as good if you leave whole as is.

Generously season the pork with the home made rub. It consists of kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Smoke at 225 °F with your favorite wood until done. Our pork belly became fork tender at the 7 hour mark.

Remove from heat and allow to rest. The next step is to deep fry for a minute to crisp up that skin into essentially pork rinds. Heat peanut oil in a tall frying pan or cooker of your choice and when the oil is 300 °F fry the pork until the skin is nice and crispy. This step should only take about 45-60 seconds. When done allow to rest on paper towels so the oil drains and when ready plate and serve with your favorite sides. We made a spicy honey based sauce from a previous post, Chinese Bao Buns and Sauce, check it out.

Parings

Our go to usually consists of a nice bottle of wine. The crispy pork belly put us in a celebrating type mood so we paired it with an India Pale Ale to cut through the richness of the pork fat. If you prefer a wine then try out a Grenache.

Nutrition

You might want to sit down for this. A 3 ounce portion of pork belly hits hard with 438 calories. Yes, we know that's high, however it's okay to splurge once and a while and treat your taste buds. A cup of hand cut fries adds another 152 calories.

Recommended Serving Size: 3 oz. with hand cut french fries. (Approximately 590 cal.)
Total Servings: Approximately 2

Items Used

Below are a few of the items used to create the finished result. The curated items below and ingredients above have been carefully selected and represent what we believe to be the best balance between quality and cost.