Crispy Oven Roasted Pork Belly with Fennel & Apple

Pork Belly with crackling can be tricky to achieve, follow this easy to follow recipe and get it right every time.

Ingredients

• 2x 1 kg boneless pork belly, skin scored using a Stanley Knife or box cutter
• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 100 ml of vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 fennel bulb cut into thick slices
•  2 onions peeled and cut into thick slices
• 1 apple peeled and sliced
• 250ml cloudy apple juice
• 250ml sherry or dry vermouth

Method

• Bring a large pan of water, big enough to fit the pork bellies in, to the boil. Add the bicarb and poach the pork on a gentle simmer for 4 mins.
• Meanwhile, put the coriander seeds and chili flakes in a small pan and toast over medium heat until the seeds are aromatic, being careful not to burn the chili.
• Lift the pork out of the pan using two slotted spoons and put in a  roasting tin, rind-side down. Pat dry with a kitchen towel and pierce the meat all over with a knife.
• Grind the toasted spices with the salt using a pestle and mortar or with a blender, then cover the meat with half the spiced salt.
• Turn the pork over and pat the rind dry with kitchen paper, pressing down to make sure it’s completely dry
• Squeeze the vinegar/lemon juice all over the scored rind and leave for a few minutes to soak in
• Pat dry again and rub the remaining salt mixture over, making sure it gets into the grooves.
• Chill, uncovered, for a minimum of 1 hour, preferably overnight or longer in your fridge
• Bring the pork out of the fridge 30 mins before you want to cook it and let it warm to room temperature
• Heat oven to a high temp – 230C.
• Chop the onion and fennel and place them in the bottom of a roasting pan, place the pork on top, rind side up
• Roast for 40 mins, turning the roasting tin halfway so that it cooks evenly.
• Turn the oven down to 160C add the apple, apple juice, and sherry to the pan and cook for 1 hr.
• Turn the oven up to 220C and roast for a further 10-15 mins until the crackling is crisp. Remove from the oven and rest for at least 15 mins, keeping the juices, apple, onion, and fennel warm in a low oven. Place the cracking side down onto a board and use a very sharp knife to cut it up into chunks,
• Spoon over the juices and veggies
• Serve with whole-grain mustard

2x 1 kg boneless pork belly