Roast Pork Belly with Apple Sauce
Who doesn’t like pork with apple sauce?!
This recipe calls for Kurobuta pork which was originally one of the old English Berkshire breeds but was later developed in Japan (hence the name: kurobuta means black pig).
This pork is special because it has fat marbling throughout the meat, which gives it a luscious flavor and moist texture. A suitable alternative to Kurobuta pork would be Bangalow pork, but you can adapt this recipe for generic, store-bought pork belly as well.
Enjoy!
Roast Pork Belly with Apple Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 kilograms pork belly bones removed (Kurobota pork belly is preferred)
- 300 grams table salt
- 1 teaspoon star anise ground
- 2 teaspoons white pepper
- 1 tablespoon all-spice ground
- 1 teaspoon five spice powder
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- 1 teaspoon cardamom freshly ground
- olive oil extra virgin
For the Apple Sauce:
- 300 grams castor sugar
- 100 milliliters rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- 5-6 green apples
- 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Score the pork belly with a knife, forming a criss-cross pattern about 1cm (0.4 inch) apart. Mix together the salt and spices and rub all over the pork. Cover and leave for 2 hours, then rinse the salt mix off the pork and pat dry with kitchen paper.
- Preheat the oven to 250°C (480 Fahrenheit)
- Place the pork on a wire rack in a roasting tin, skin-side up, and rub with a little oil. Roast for 30 minutes until the skin is crispy, then reduce the temperature to 160°C (320 Fahrenheit). Roast the pork for a further 40 minutes until tender. Remove, cover with foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
- To prepare the apple sauce, place the sugar, vinegar and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan, bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Add the apples and lemon juice and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and take out the vanilla bean. Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- To serve, cut the pork into slices and spoon the apple sauce over the top.
Notes
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