Chinese Roast Pork (Siew Yuk)



Ready to be devoured!

Woohoo, my first ever Chinese roast pork! I've been wanting to make this for ages. Crispy crackling skin and juicy moist meat,  can you see I'm in porky heaven?! What's more, this coming from my own humble little cheapo oven. :)

There are so many versions of this Chinese style roast pork. Some use vinegar to glaze on the skin and some use fermented red beancurd (nam yue) in the marinade. Some even call to fry the pork skin side down  prior to roasting while some advise on blanching the pork in boiling water. Naturally, being a lazy shortcut cook I chose the simplest recipe which involves the least steps & handling, from Ancoo Journal here.  Who would have thought, Chinese roast pork can be this easy! 

Chinese Roast Pork

Ingredients:

1 kg pork belly
1/2 Tbsp coarse salt
1/2 Tbsp Chinese 5 spice powder
1/2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine or Shao Xing wine

additional salt to rub on skin

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix marinade together. Rub marinade on the pork belly (which has been scored lightly) EXCEPT THE SKIN. Place the marinated side down on a container so it can sit and absorb the flavors.  Pat dry the skin with kitchen paper, then with the sharp point of a knife prick holes all over the skin. Generously rub and pat salt on the skin.

2. Place pork in the fridge over night, SKIN SIDE UP, uncovered to allow skin to dry up as much as possible.

3. The next day, preheat oven at 180C. Remove pork from the fridge and pat dry if there is any moisture left. Place the pork on a grilling rack with an aluminium sheet lined pan underneath to catch drippings. Roast pork for 45 mins then switch temperature to 200C for another 20 mins or until the skin is a little burnt and charred ( this is how you know the skin is crisp all the way through and not chewy on the bottom). Remove pork from oven, scrape off any blackened burnt parts with a serrated knife and leave to rest for 10 mins before chopping. If you find the pork skin is still not crispy, you can  turn on the grill (top heat only) and grill further until you get crispy crackling skin. Or do what I did, place the pork near the top heating element during roasting to speed up the crackling process. 

Note:  To ensure the skin will not come apart from the meat during slicing/chopping., turn the pork over upside down (skin side down).