Slow Roast Pork Belly
by Nigella. Featured in KITCHENIntroduction
There are a few meals I can say I'm making that will make my children excited (or pretend to be), and this is one of them. Alongside there must be Pie Insides (which is what my daughter has always called leeks in white sauce) and for ultimate gratification, roast potatoes although I usually use goose fat for roast potatoes, I feel the pork belly allows, indeed encourages, the substitution of lard. I'm not convinced that with all that fabulous crackling you do need roasties as well, but I like to provide what makes people happy.
I have advised an overnight marinade, but if I'm making this (as I tend to) for Sunday supper, I often prepare it in the morning and leave it in the fridge loosely covered with baking parchment, or midday-ish and leave it uncovered in a cold place (but not the fridge) for a few hours.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
There are a few meals I can say I'm making that will make my children excited (or pretend to be), and this is one of them. Alongside there must be Pie Insides (which is what my daughter has always called leeks in white sauce) and for ultimate gratification, roast potatoes although I usually use goose fat for roast potatoes, I feel the pork belly allows, indeed encourages, the substitution of lard. I'm not convinced that with all that fabulous crackling you do need roasties as well, but I like to provide what makes people happy.
I have advised an overnight marinade, but if I'm making this (as I tend to) for Sunday supper, I often prepare it in the morning and leave it in the fridge loosely covered with baking parchment, or midday-ish and leave it uncovered in a cold place (but not the fridge) for a few hours.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Serves: 6-8
- 1¾ kilograms pork belly (rind scored)
- 4 tablespoons tahini
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- juice of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lime
- 3¾ pounds pork belly (rind scored)
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- juice of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lime
Method
- Get out a shallow dish in which the scored pork will fit snugly and in it whisk together the tahini, soy sauce, lemon and lime juice.
- Sit the pork on top, skin-side up. You should find the marinade covers the underside and most of the sides, but doesn’t touch the rind: that’s what you want.
- Leave the pork in the fridge to marinate overnight, covered with foil, and then take out to return to room temperature before it goes into the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C/130°C Fan/gas mark 2/300ºF.
- Get out a shallow roasting tin and line with foil.
- Transfer the pork to the roasting tin — some of the marinade will stay on the pork, and that's what you want — and cook it uncovered for 3½ hours.
- Turn the oven up to 250°C/230°C Fan/gas mark 9/450ºF and cook for a further 15-30 minutes to let the skin crisp to crunchy burnished perfection, though do keep an eye on the crackling to make sure it doesn’t burn.
- Get out a shallow dish in which the scored pork will fit snugly and in it whisk together the tahini, soy sauce, lemon and lime juice.
- Sit the pork on top, skin-side up. You should find the marinade covers the underside and most of the sides, but doesn’t touch the rind: that’s what you want.
- Leave the pork in the fridge to marinate overnight, covered with foil, and then take out to return to room temperature before it goes into the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C/130°C Fan/gas mark 2/300ºF.
- Get out a shallow roasting tin and line with foil.
- Transfer the pork to the roasting tin — some of the marinade will stay on the pork, and that's what you want — and cook it uncovered for 3½ hours.
- Turn the oven up to 250°C/230°C Fan/gas mark 9/450ºF and cook for a further 15-30 minutes to let the skin crisp to crunchy burnished perfection, though do keep an eye on the crackling to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Additional Information
For gluten free: use tamari instead of soy sauce.
MAKE AHEAD:
The pork can be marinated for up to 1 day. Cover and store in the refrigerator until needed.
LEFTOVERS:
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge, tightly wrapped in foil, for up to 3 days.
For gluten free: use tamari instead of soy sauce.
MAKE AHEAD:
The pork can be marinated for up to 1 day. Cover and store in the refrigerator until needed.
LEFTOVERS:
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge, tightly wrapped in foil, for up to 3 days.
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Show more commentsSome time ago we had this at a friend's house and loved it so I went out and bought a piece of pork belly - only to then realise that I had no idea how to cook it the way they had. I open my computer today and look what I found! Thank you so much for this recipe, it sounds just perfect and exactly what I needed.
Pure Nigella. I’ve been using this recipe for years. It never fails or gets old. Stunning.
I made this a month or so ago, loved it! I had quite a bit of the marinade left over so froze it. I bought 4 large thick Pork Chops, marinaded them for about 36 hours 2 to a bag, cooked them for 2 hours on 150c turning them a couple of times. then up to 220c to brown them on both sides, so much flavour and so tender! Thanks Nigella.
I made this first in 2013 and it has become a once a month favorite! One thing I like to do: after scoring the skin slowly pour a kettle of boiling water over until the skin puckers a bit, dry well and do the marinade. Proceed as written. This helps toward getting really crispy skin. Wonderful !
It's the best recipe. So easy to follow and scrumptious. It's always my go to for Christmas and Easter and the family love it as I'm not the best of cooks but my family know I can't ruin this one. Thanks Nigella.
This recipe is amazing! So tender & tasty. However after 10 mins of crisping at 250C the crackling was burnt, so I would keep a constant eye on it. Will definitely be making this again.
I had a neglected jar of tahini in my fridge and stumbled upon this recipe and thought I'd give it a try. I am so glad I did! Very simple to prepare and even easier to cook. I halved the quantities for two portions. Served some braised red cabbage and celeriac mash along side. The tahini flavour is very subtle but you can detect the slightly nutty taste but it combines beautifully with the pork. I recommend trying this recipe even if only to use up that jar of tahini!
Oh my, I tried this recipe at the weekend, will be cooking it for the family in 2 weeks time - fabulous and so easy... And yet still not enough crackling for me ;-)
I made this last night and it was perfect, my marinade was quite thick so I wasn't sure how it would turn out, this recipe is a keeper!
Very simple recipe and very tasty. The meat just falls away and melts in your mouth. Cooked it twice in the last 2 weeks and it will become a family favourite.
So simple and easy and yet one of the best things I've ever taken out of the oven.
Being me I can't leave anything "As written", so this is how this recipe has evolved with me: For a start I use Dark Tahini, but only 3 Tablespoons, the 4th is Hoisin Sauce (the result of running out once!) Plus I only use Tamari, better flavour. During cooking the meat sits on a bed of thinly sliced Red Onion. I dilute the Marinade with a third of its volume of water, pour that into the pan, and cook covered tightly with foil for the first 2 hours. It is then removed. After 3 & a half hours I raise the temperature to 180oC. And finish as prescribed with 30 mins @ 250oC to mature the crackling. Yum!