Crackling maketh pork belly.
Cooking for a crowd can be difficult, and having cooked for crowds of over 40 on several occasions we can empathise with the dilemma over which dishes to cook and the timing of their preparation to deliver excellent food in good time. We had some friends over for dinner recently and once again we were faced with the challenge of deciding on dishes that we could easily produce on a large scale…
This fragrant, succulent pork belly with its crispy crackling proved to be a huge hit, and we just had to share this crowd favourite with all of you. Sage may be a herb less familiar to some, but it really is a delicious ingredient that lends the dish an amazing floral fragrance. We find that it works best with chicken or pork, or in a brown butter sauce for pasta.
This recipe takes a fair bit of cooking time, but preparation is straightforward and easy. You’d want to use a really, really sharp knife though, if not you could well be spending the day sawing and hacking away at the tough skin of the pork belly. Even with our quality knives, it wasn’t exactly a breeze to cut through 
The result of all this triceps-exercise however, is a very aromatic, succulent pork belly with all the fat rendered down. Firing it at the last minute in very high heat gives it a very satisfying, crunchy crackling. If like us, you aren’t fans of thick layers of wobbly fat on your meat, this is simply perfect 😀
Sage-Rubbed Crispy Pork Belly
Serves: 10-12
Ingredients
2.2kg pork belly, with bones removed
4 tbs ground sage
1 tbs ground coriander seed
1 tbs ground fennel seeds
2 1/2 tbs sea salt
2 tbs freshly-cracked black pepper
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
1L chicken stock (make your own if possible, or use a low-sodium variety and reduce the salt to 2 tbs)
1 tsp olive oil
Steps
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees
2. Score the skin of the pork at 1.5cm intervals, cutting through the skin but not the flesh! Trust us, completing this step is more than half the battle won
3. Mix the spices in a bowl, and rub the mixture all over the pork
4. Lightly grease the base of a baking dish with the olive oil, then place the pork in, skin-side up
5. Pour the stock around the meat until the meat is submerged, but making sure not to get any on the skin!
6. Add the bay leaves and thyme to the stock, cover with foil and roast for 2 1/2 hours
7. Remove the foil, pour in some stock if it looks like it is drying out (but keep the skin very very dry!!), move the tray to the upper-mid tier of the oven and increase the temperature to 230 degrees. Roast for 15-20mins or until skin bubbles and crackles and turns crispy. Lower the heat to 210 degrees if the skin is starting to burn without crackling.
8. Remove the pork from the tray and let rest for 15mins before slicing
Serve alongside applesauce or stewed apples.
Sink your teeth into the juicy pork and crunch away!
MARKSTERONTHWALL 