Crispy Pork Belly with Vietnamese Slaw & Rice

A couple of days ago I shared my technique to get an awesome crackling crunch on your pork belly. I hope you enjoyed it, because here's your chance to test it out! This dish is a perfect balance of rich, crunchy pork belly, tangy and fresh slaw, and steamed rice to soak it all up!

This is probably my husband's most requested dish, and one I'll always bring out if we have company or there's a special occasion (or, you know, if you're halfway through a 6 week hard lockdown and neither of those things seem likely to happen anytime soon!). It's a great one to prepare ahead - prep the slaw but keep the dressing separate until the last minute, set your rice cooker, and just let the pork slowly cook away while you enjoy cocktails and a cheese platter!

This is definitely my favourite way to serve pork belly as the bite of the slaw cuts through the decadence of the crackling, but I'll also be sharing some other pork belly recipes soon, so check those out!

Serves: 4

Prep: 15 minutes

Cook: 2 hours

Ingredients:

For the pork

1 1/2 kg slab pork belly

2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp oil

1/2 cup Chinese cooking wine

1/2 cup soy sauce

6 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tsp grated ginger

4 star anise

2 cinnamon quills

For the slaw

1 carrot, peeled and julienned

1 red apple, cored and grated

1 Lebanese cucumber, halved, deseeded and sliced into half moons

1 red chili, diced

1/2 bunch coriander

1/2 bunch mint

Juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp chili flakes

Steamed rice, to serve

Method

1. Mix together the cooking wine, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, star anise and cinnamon and pour into a shallow dish or tray that will also fit your piece of pork.

2. To prepare your pork belly, please see my previous post here: https://www.emscreativekitchen.com/post/how-to-pork-belly-with-amazing-crackling (remember, you need to start your prep the night before if you want that crackling really crispy!) When marinating the pork, make sure none of the soy sauce mixture gets on the skin.

3. To prepare the slaw, place carrot, apple, cucumber and chili in a large bowl.

4. Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, sugar and chili flakes in a jug. Set aside until just before you serve.

5. When you're on the home stretch with your pork, cook your rice according to your preferred method.

6. When the pork is resting, dress the slaw and divide between four plates. Add the rice, slice the pork and serve!