Hairy Bikers pork belly slices never see an oven, because the joint gets cut thin and cooked on a griddle instead. The recipe is in British Classics, so 1.5kg feeds five at 880 calories, though it needs a night in the fridge first.
Dave writes in British Classics that Si cooked it on the barbecue and “it was the best I’d ever eaten”. What makes it different is the marinade going on during cooking, brushed onto each slice rather than soaked in beforehand.
The salt rub does go on early though, since the pork sits uncovered in the fridge overnight. Leaving it open to the air dries the rind out, so the skin crisps on the griddle instead of going leathery.
Hairy Bikers Pork Belly Slices Recipe
Description
Salt, ground star anise and orange zest are worked into the scored rind a day ahead. A separate paste of bay, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns and five-spice is loosened with olive and sesame oil, then painted on as the strips cook over a high heat. Once the pork is cut it is ready in minutes.
Ingredients
For the Pork:
For the Marinade:
Instructions
- Score the skin: Check the butcher has scored the rind well, or do it yourself with a small sharp kitchen knife or a clean DIY knife. Fine, close scores make better crackling than deep wide ones.
- Rub in the salt: Mix the salt, ground star anise and orange zest together, then rub it hard into the skin so the salt goes down into every cut in the rind.
- Dry it overnight: Leave the pork in the fridge overnight and do not cover it, because the whole point is letting the rind dry out.
- Pound the paste: Blend or pound the bay leaves, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns and five-spice to a paste in a mini-blender or a pestle and mortar.
- Loosen with oil: Add the olive oil and sesame oil slowly while you keep mixing, so the paste turns into a brushing marinade rather than splitting.
- Slice the pork: Heat a barbecue or griddle, then cut the pork into thin slices while it comes up to temperature.
- Griddle and brush: Lay the slices on the hot griddle and brush them with the marinade. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until the meat is cooked through and the skin has crisped.
FAQs
Barbecue or griddle, which works better?
Both are in the recipe and neither is wrong, though they behave differently. Charcoal gives you smoke and char on the fat, while a griddle pan gives you more control and lets you cook indoors in February.
Whichever you use, do not run it flat out. There is 200ml of oil in that marinade and crushed garlic through it, and both catch fast on a fierce heat, so the outside blackens while the middle is still raw. The chicken shawarma has the same problem and solves it by staying at medium and turning often.
How thin should the slices be?
The recipe just says thin, which is less helpful than it sounds. What you are aiming for is thin enough that a few minutes a side cooks the meat right through, since there is no oven stage to finish it off.
The useful thing to watch is the rind. Every slice wants a bit of it along the edge, because that crisp strip is the reason for slicing a belly rather than roasting it whole. Cut so the crackling gets shared out rather than ending up on two lucky pieces.
Do I really need 200ml of olive oil?
It sounds like a lot and it is, but it is a brushing marinade rather than something you eat. Most of it drips off into the coals or stays in the bowl, so the amount that ends up on your plate is far smaller than the ingredient list suggests.
The oil is there to carry the paste. Garlic, bay and Sichuan peppercorns will not spread evenly on their own, and pounding them into a dry rub just leaves you with bits that burn. Add the oil slowly while mixing and it emulsifies into something you can paint on.
How does this compare with roasting the belly whole?
Completely different dish from the same cut. The chinese pork belly uses the same five-spice and star anise flavours but roasts the joint for nearly three hours over potatoes, so you get a Sunday dinner out of it.
This one is a fast cook once the fridge time is done, and it works as something to eat standing up around a barbecue. Same 1.5kg of meat, ten minutes of cooking instead of two hours and forty five.
Can I serve the slices in flatbread?
They work well that way, since the slices are already the right shape for it. Warm the bread first, then pile in the pork with something sharp and crunchy, because the meat is rich and needs cutting through.
The lamb kebab does exactly this with pitta, shredded lettuce, tomato and a garlic yoghurt sauce, and all of that suits belly pork slices just as well. If you want the barbecue lit for longer, the bbq pulled pork is the very next recipe in British Classics and takes five hours, so one can go on while the other comes off.
