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slow roast belly pork in slices with crackling in the background and onions and apples in front.

Slow Roast Belly Pork with Perfect Crackling

Amanda
This recipe will give you succulent and non grasy roast pork with perfect crackling, step by step.
5 from 19 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Resting 15 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine British
Servings 8
Calories 1321 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 2 kg pork belly
  • 2 teaspoon coarse salt
  • cooking salt
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 onions sliced

Instructions
 

  • Bring the pork to room temperature and score the surface of the pork with fine lines.
  • Sprinkle the surface with table salt and leave for 30 minutes.
  • Heat the oven to 160FAN/180C/350F.
  • Wash off the salt and pat dry then put the pork on a rack over a roasting pan.
  • Rub the meat with vegetable oil and sprinkle with the sea salt.
  • Cover with foil and roast for an hour and a half.
  • Slice the onions and cut the apples into wedges and place at the bottom of the oven tin.
  • Return to the oven for another hour.
  • Remove the foil and increase the oven to 180FAN/200C/400F for 30 minutes to crisp up the crackling.
  • Place it on a carving tray and cut off the crackling and put it on a separate plate.
  • Cover the pork loosely with foil and leave to rest for at least 15 minutes.
  • Drain the fat from the tray, reserving the juices, onions and apples.
  • Slice the pork and serve with chunks of crackling and the apples and onions on the side.

Notes

 
In this case the calculator assumes that you will be eating all of the fat from the pork, when in reality agood deal of it will have melted and been discarded.
  • If you are entertaining try scoring the pork both ways, into small squares. You can then cut the pork into square pieces, rather than slices for an for an elegant presentation.
  • To score the pork, I prefer to use a medium sized meat knife, as a large sharp knife is unwieldy. A craft knife with replaceable blades is also a good option. If you find this difficult, try using a bread knife. You do need to saw at it, but you do have more control.
  • Don't forget to deglaze the roasting pan with some white wine and stock to make a delicious gravy with the juices.
  • Spice up this recipe by adding a couple of teaspoons of chilli flakes to the skin, or try fennel seeds too.
  • If the crackling is not fully crispy at the end of cooking, don't panic! Put the crackling on an oven tray and return to the oven. Alternatively, put it under the grill, but watch it like a hawk, as it can quickly burn.

Nutrition

Calories: 1321kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 24gFat: 134gSaturated Fat: 50gCholesterol: 180mgSodium: 662mgPotassium: 503mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 26IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg
Keyword belly pork, crackling, slow roasted
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