Roasted pork belly is the Holy Grail of pork and it’s hard to believe in a hog-centric state such as Arkansas, it was on nary a menu. Many people have never tried it, put off by the name. Some are health conscious and fear they might die at the mere smell or taste of it. Veggie, pesci or other “tarians” won’t consider it based on personal principles. Respectfully, to each his or her own.
Desiring company on my road to cholesterol nirvana, I lured some friends to taste the joy of fatty, bacon-y goodness. With commitments from several bold tasters, I began planning dinner. Searching for a recipe, a trip back to Louisville, Kentucky provided the answer. I was fortunate to attend a special dinner at 610 Magnolia, with my friend Philip and I scored. Providentially, pork belly was part of the tasting menu. Better than that, being two familiar faces, chef agreed to share his recipe.
The Secret Ingredient
Ed Lee is not a crazy secretive chef and freely shares recipes. He uses the dried powdered remains of fermented soy sauce aged in used bourbon barrels to season his pork belly. It’s hard to come by and adds an earthy, savory component that you can’t quite put your finger on but know it’s there. As our dinner wound down to a finish, chef appeared with a container for me as a departing gift.
Serve this with a good craft beer like a hazelnut brown ale. Print
Pork Belly and Roasted Potatoes
Roasted pork belly, rubbed in fermented soy sauce powder, brown sugar, salt and pepper
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 200
- Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Ingredients
Pork Belly
- 3 lb slab of fresh pork belly
Pork Belly Rub
Everything is proportional, mix just enough for the size of your pork belly
- 8 parts powdered soy sauce fermented in used bourbon barrels
- 4 parts kosher salt
- 4 parts brown sugar
- 1 part ground black pepper
- 3 bay leaves
If you can’t find the soy sauce powder, make brown sugar the primary ingredient and substitute a combination of thyme, oregano, rosemary and some mustard powder for the soy powder
Roasted Potatoes
- 1–1/2 lb yukon gold fingerling potatoes
- Olive oil
- Salt and black pepper – to taste
Instructions
- Mix the rub ingredients thoroughly in a blender
- Score the belly on the diagonal through the skin, then rub the mix into the belly both sides and ends. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it cure for 36 hours
- Quickly and lightly rinse the belly and pat it completely dry, leaving most of the rub on it
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place the belly in a large baking pan fat side down with enough room to add the potatoes later.
- Baste the belly in its own rendered fat every 30 minutes for 3 hours, then test with a cake tester. If there is no resistance proceed to the next step
- Increase oven heat to maximum temp of 500 degrees and continue to bake for 2-3 more minutes
- Turn the belly over, baste it then broil until the top is golden brown – less than 5 more minutes. Watch it carefully to prevent burning
- Remove from the oven and rest for about 5 minutes and cut into serving size pieces
Best to serve immediately, but you can make this ahead of time and re-heat.
- Remove from oven
- If belly is not uniform height, place a hotel pan on top and weight it down
- Place in refrigerator and cool down completely overnight and serve the next day
- Slice into serving size pieces
- Place in cast iron pan on medium heat to sear and re-heat
Roasted Potatoes
- Toss the potatoes in olive oil and season liberally with kosher salt and black pepper
- Arrange the potatoes around the pork belly in the baking dish about an hour before the belly will be done.
- Baste the potatoes in the rendered fat after 30 minutes and remove with the pork belly when it is finished
Fantastic dish! The potatoes were the perfect compliment.
Easy to make too!