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Roasted pork belly with crispy crackling getting sliced.

Christmas Pork Belly with Sexy Crackling and Gravy

A festive pork belly recipe with an awesome crackling and a lovely gravy.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Not Specific
Keyword Pork belly recipe, pork crackling, roasted pork belly
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings 6 people
Calories 751 kcal
Author Nicolas

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
  2. Score the fat on the top of the pork with a sharp knife or a stanley knife as shown in the picture above.
  3. Season the pork generously with salt all over, make sure you get the seasoning in the cracks of that scored fat.
  4. Get a large pan or a stainless steel roasting tray that can take the heat from a stove nice and hot on about medium-high flame. Add a touch of oil then add your pork fat side down. Sear that pork fat for about 3-4 minutes, turn the heat off then transfer the pork back on your chopping board.
  5. Add your onions, garlic, bay leaves and cloves to the pan and then bundle those ingredients together in the middle. This will just create a bed for the pork to sit on while roasting. So carefully place your pork on top of those bundled aromats in the pan. Finally, add a cup of water (250ml) in the pan (make sure you don't pour over the pork) to prevent any areas on the pan from burning. Roast that pork in the oven for 1 hr 45 mins - 2 hours.
  6. Take the pork out of the oven, increase the heat to 220 degrees Celsius, add another cup of water to the pan then place back in the oven for another 30 minutes to finish off that crackling.
  7. Once the pork belly is done, transfer to a board or platter, then cover with foil and leave the meat to rest. Also, make sure you put a folded tea-towl over the handle of the pan, this just reminds you that the pan is still hot and prevents you from burning yourself.
  8. Strain any of the juices from the pan into a bowl, make sure you push all of those juices through the sieve. If there is too much fat on top of those juices, use a ladle to skim it off. Add the cooked onions, garlic, bay leaves and cloves back into the pan, get the pan back on the heat and fry off those ingredients for 1-2 minutes.
  9. Add your apple cider vinegar and orange/clementine juice to deglaze the pan. Next, add your cornflour and stir through, then add 2 cups of water and those juices that you strained earlier. Bring that mixture to a boil then simmer for a few minutes.
  10. Season to taste with salt and pepper then strain one last time in a bowl. From there you can serve in a gravy jug or whatever you choose. Serve with the pork belly and enjoy.

Recipe Notes

  • Scoring the fat on the pork belly will make your crackling crispier. 
Nutrition Facts
Christmas Pork Belly with Sexy Crackling and Gravy
Amount Per Serving
Calories 751 Calories from Fat 577
% Daily Value*
Fat 64.1g99%
Saturated Fat 21.1g132%
Cholesterol 132mg44%
Sodium 1031mg45%
Potassium 82mg2%
Carbohydrates 5.5g2%
Fiber 0.9g4%
Sugar 2.5g3%
Protein 38.8g78%
Calcium 10mg1%
Iron 2.3mg13%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.