Have any Good Pork Belly Recipes?

[hankstramm]

I'm a big fan of pork belly. Although I've only made it twice and only ate it a few times in restaurants, I love it. I had a pretty good version in Fort Bragg at Mendo Bistro and my All About Braising Cookbook has one that I cooked and loved.

I want to try something different this time. I was thinking maybe Kakuni, but I'm open to try almost any recipe. Any ideas? I did find a thread on Kakuni here, but wanted to know if anyone tried anything else.

[esquimeaux]

my favorite way to eat pork belly is korean-style, but kinda junk-foody. fry up some slices from the korean supermarket, fry up some well-ripened kimchi in the leftover fat, slap it on a plate with some rice, and eat with pickled radish wrappers (also korean super). the combo of greasy hot kimchi, fatty meat, and sharp vinegary radish make for an awesome meal.

[hannaone]

Bo Ssam - Korean Pork Belly with Kimchi
Ingredients

Boil
1 pound Pork Belly
1 large white or yellow onion
3 green or spring onion
2 green chilies
1 inch knob fresh ginger
1 teaspoon coarse Black Pepper
4 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoon Soy bean paste (Doenjang)
Water 8 cups

Wraps
8 cloves fresh raw garlic
5 Green chili or jalapeno peppers
6 or more whole leaves of Fresh Napa Kimchi
Optional
Red or Green loose leaf lettuce
Ssam Jang* See below for recipe if needed

Directions

Peel Onion and cut in quarters
Wash ginger and cut into about 1/8 inch slices
Trim top and bottom of green spring onion and cut into thirds
Slice green chilies in half lengthwise
Mix soy sauce, soy bean paste, and pepper with 1 cup of water.
Put remaining water into a large pot, add all boil ingredients, and bring to a rolling boil over high heat (Watch the pot for boil over).
Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (Watch pot for boil over).
If needed, add more water to maintain slightly more than 1/2 original volume.

Prepare wraps
wash garlic and pepper in cold water then thin slice.
Cut Kimchi leaves (if narrow leaves cut lengthwise, if wide leaves cut crosswise) into rougly 1 inch by 3 inch strips.

Final
Remove Pork Belly from pot and discard everything else
Slice the Prok Belly into bite size pieces
Place on piece of pork belly on one end of a strip of kimchi, top with garlic slice and pepper slice, and roll the kimchi.
Repeat for each piece of pork belly.
(You can secure the wraps with toothpicks - make sure they can be seen though - no accidents please)

Serve at room temperatureas part of a Korean meal, as a drinking snack, or as an appetiser.

Ssam jang

1/4 cup of soybean paste (Korean-doenjang/Japanese-Miso)
1/2 cup gochujang (Korean chili paste) **
1 fresh red chili pepper
1 fresh green chili pepper
4 cloves garlic
2 green/spring onion
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
water as needed
Optional
1 teaspoon rice wine

** gochujang substitute
**1/3 cup fine or medium ground dried red chili pepper
**6 cloves fresh garlic
**1/4 small white or yellow onion
**1 teaspoon sugar
**1 tablespoon of sesame oil
**1 tablespoon rice wine
**3 tablespoon soy sauce
**water as needed
Directions

[**Mix gochujang substitute if needed
Place onion, peeled garlic cloves, and soy sauce in a blender and blend until liquified (add a small amount of water if needed).
Mix all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and mix well.
Add just enough water to be able to mix. The result should be a very thick paste that must be spooned from the bowl.]

Finely chop (mince) the garlic, chili peppers, and green onion.
In a small mixing bowl, add all Ssam jang ingredients and mix well.
Add a small amount of water if needed to maintain a mixable paste.
Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

[Joebob]

Vietnamese Clay Pot Pork, where you start by caramelizing sugar for the sauce, works either with Boston butt or belly.

[chowser]

Chinese style pork belly is so good, especially served w/ steamed buns. I don't use a recipe, but something along these lines, though I do use star anise and no mustard.

http://chowtimes.com/2006/08/11/salte...

[MMRuth]

I've been wanting to try a Hopkinson recipe for an Asian style pork belly - I'll try to dig up the book and post a paraphrase of it - another 'hound said it was amazing.

[JungMann]

Red-cooked pork belly is somewhat simlar to kakuni. For simplicity's sake, I prefer lechon kawali: belly boiled in with aromatics, thoroughly dried, and then deep fried. The results are crunchy but unctuous and fantastic with either a soy-vinegar dip or lechon sauce. If you're on the more adventurous side, I also have a recipe for belly stewed in pork blood.

[jdm]

My current favorite pork belly recipe is "aromatic pork belly hot pot" in The River Cottage Meat Book.