flavour in a flash
PERFECTLY CRISP PORK BELLY
SERVES 4
PREP + COOKING TIME: 2 HOURS 10 MINUTES, PLUS 10 MINUTES’ RESTING TIME
Until now, I’d never managed to get uniformly crisp crackling on my pork belly at the same time as delivering a beautifully cooked, unctuously fatty piece of meat underneath.
Don’t bother trying to score the skin with a knife or a blade from the tool box; stabbing the skin with toothpicks takes 2 minutes versus 15 minutes trying to score through the thick skin with even your sharpest knife.
The key to getting that ultracrisp skin is to mix a little bicarbonate of soda with salt and rub it on to the skin before putting the meat in a cold oven. This allows the pork and the oven to warm up together, which means unctuous fat layers and tender meat. Most importantly, the fat below the skin renders down, leaving the top layer to crisp. Plus there’s no waiting around for the oven to heat up. Make sure your pork is not fridge-cold when you put it in the oven – take it out of the fridge 20–30 minutes before you plan to start cooking.
• 1.5 kg pork belly
• 2½ tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
FOR THE SWEET-AND-SOUR APPLE PICKLES
• 3 dessert apples, cored and cut into matchsticks
• 1½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1½ tbsp honey
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Make sure the surface of your pork is really dry – leave it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight or use some paper towels to pat dry the surface if necessary. Use a couple of toothpicks or sharp
