# pork belly??



## sudsy9977 (May 8, 2011)

hey so who has some good recipes for bellies?......i wanna make something similar to a dish i had in a restaurant...it was a little square of belly with like an odd apple type gravy.....i can handle the gravy but any tips of getting nice crispy skin and melt in your mouth meat?.....ryan


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## mano (May 8, 2011)

Braise it


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## 9mmbhp (May 8, 2011)

Not sure about the apple gravy but this might give you some ideas: Siu Yook (Chinese roast pork belly)

Here is a picture from the associated discussion thread:


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## MadMel (May 8, 2011)

sudsy9977 said:


> hey so who has some good recipes for bellies?......i wanna make something similar to a dish i had in a restaurant...it was a little square of belly with like an odd apple type gravy.....i can handle the gravy but any tips of getting nice crispy skin and melt in your mouth meat?.....ryan


 
Here's a recipe I use. Its the same product as the one PM9mmbhp gave. A little closer to what the chinese restaurants do here in singapore. Have fun and post pics!!

http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=625

Another recipe you may wanna try is to marinate the slab of pork (Skin on pork belly, Slightly fatty, best if thin layers of fat sandwiched by meat) with 1:1 ratio of white wine and water, garlic, juniper berries, rosemary, thyme,bay leaves, some fennel seeds (All chopped) and salt and some oil. Just enough of the liquid to mix all those together, chuck your pork with those stuff in a vacuum bag and steam at 90 celcius for 3-4 hrs. Remove from the bag, scrap off anything of the chopped stuff that's sticking to it and air dry till you can't feel any moisture on the outside of the skin. Make small, shallow punctures in the skin and pan fry it skin side down till crisp. It can keep refrigerated in the vacuum bag for 1 week or so. This is something more western style.


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## JBroida (May 8, 2011)

I always braise mine... sometimes i make kakuni, sometimes i just toss in a little maple syrup with some other stuff. Even apple cider will do. When its done braising, you can spend some time glazing it and let the top crisp up in a broiler a bit

Here's the kakuni recipe i use just for fun:

1-1.5 lbs pork belly

2 cups water
3 tbsp soy sauce
3tbsp cooking sake
1 star anise
1 chunk of ginger about 3/4" cubed
1 long green onion (naga nagi) or 2 scallions
2-2.5 tbsp brown sugar

score skin or fat cap of pork
heat braising pan or pressure cooker and brown pork belly on all sides (deep brown)
toss in sugar and coat pork... caramelize a bit
toss in the rest of the ingredients and scrape up the bottom of the pan to remove bits of sugar
braise for 2.5-3 hours or pressure cook at 15psi for 50 minutes
glaze with braising liquid
eat... i usually eat the 1lb myself


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## Tristan (May 8, 2011)

Hi Mel, which restaurant are you currently cooking at? i'm up in Singapore as well, so might head down to grab a meal sometime


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## bieniek (May 9, 2011)

Doesn't matter how long you would braise a belly, it won't keep the great texture and will just be tasteless. To preserve the real taste of it and add some extra plus keep it at maximum of its tenderness, just CONFIT it.

Heres how: [i made the dish, we sell it in the bar]

First i take the skin off the belly - if you have whole, i would cut it in half, then press skin side down and by using thin flexible knife i cut the skin out by pressing the knife lightly and do as many strokes as it would require. You will be left with smooth surfae and great presentation later. 

Second step is marinating, and i believe in simple yet real flavours, so i use only garlic onion thyme and rosemary. 
Leave the thyme as it is, pick the rosemary off the sprigs, but no chop, the garlic cut in slices, not too small - similar with onions. Will be easier to pick it up afterwards
I put little oil on cling film, herbs, belly, herbs and i roll it with cling film.

I leave it for 24-48 hours.

Then its time for confit. Oven on 180° C, oil into deep pan/pot. I heat it up until i reach 170C.
Then i pour it over to tray where bellies are, i clean all of the herbs and spices off it, herbs tend to burn in that temperature over long period. 
The oil should cover the belly fully. Then I cover tray and stick it in the oven. Depending on the size i would allow 90 to 120 minutes. 

When pierced by knife should make feel like soft butter. 
Then i cool it down, then cut portions, and then when order comes i use red hot pan, no oil, just stick piece of belly fat side down, throw in spring of rosemary and off it goes to oven for reheating.
What you dont use, you just store in the oil - thats the whole idea of confit, isnt it? 
Dont be affraid of the meat to fatty or lazy flavour, it wont be 

Enjoy


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## MadMel (May 9, 2011)

Tristan said:


> Hi Mel, which restaurant are you currently cooking at? i'm up in Singapore as well, so might head down to grab a meal sometime


 
Hi, currently working all around town doing part time work lol. Used to work full time at L'Angolo at Maxwell Chambers. Finding part time a better use of time as I get exposure to more cuisine styles cos i'm going overseas for studies next Feb 
Where'r u staying and what kind of food do you like? Maybe i can recommend some good places 

The confit is a great idea. I may try it out sometime haha. No Bay leaves in the marination? You could use a zip-lock bag for the marinating and suck out all the air with a straw. I thing it would make less of a mess that way but it's my opinion


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## Tristan (May 9, 2011)

This is Singapore man... everything is within reach =) Actually I have been lazy lately and just going to the same few places. Been itching to try out a few new places with interesting cuisine. I like almost all fare - favs being italian, french, ***, chinese, chinese fusion (former club chinois by su ser if I spelt it right). Town is typically where I end up in 2 times a week.

Let me know if you've been back in the kitchens and you still have strong vibes that it will be a good place to visit for food quality and taste.


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