Hi there everyone!
Sooooo many people love a good piece of pork crackling – myself included. This being said, I HAVE to put a disclaimer on this though considering it IS also a Kid’s Health Blog…
DISCLAIMER/WARNING: EXCESS PORK CRACKLING IS NOT HEALTHY OR GOOD FOR YOU!
There. I’ve said it. Now, onto the business of how to do it well, when you indulge in it OCCASIONALLY (ha ha ha)
It is actually pretty easy, believe it or not. You DO have to have a good oven though – one where you have reliable temperature control. The trick is a HOT oven to blister the skin of the pork (once it has been prepped properly) and a milk bath (just like Cleopatra) to keep the meat juicy and tender (and stop if from drying out).
The secret is out!!
Ingredients:
1.5kg pork belly – skin scored (your butcher will do this for you, but if you are doing it yourself, cut through the skin as deeply as you can without going through the fat underneath)
2 tab olive oil (or spray – whichever you prefer)
Salt flakes (I use the Maldon Sea Salt flakes)
~ 1L of milk (I prolly use less than this, you just have to fill your baking dish to cover the meat on the sides but NOT touch the skin)
8 cloves of garlic – crushed
METHOD:
- Preheat a HOT oven (like, 220 degrees Celcius fan forced)
- Place your pork belly piece into a well “fitted” metal baking tray. For a 1.5kg pork belly, I find my brownie pan to be the perfect size
- DRY the skin as thoroughly as possible with a paper towel and then rub/spray with olive oil
- Rub salt into the scored skin, and ROAST for 20-25 min in the hot oven – until the skin starts to blister up
- Turn the oven temp down to moderate (say 160 degrees Celcius fan forced)
- Pour the milk around the pork; do NOT pour any over the skin; pour enough to go up the sides to cover the meat, but NOT touch the skin. Add the garlic and ROAST for 1 hour.
- Turn the oven up to HOT again (240 degrees Celcius fan forced) and roast for 10 min until skin is blistered and puffed all over.
Remove from oven and transfer to a plate. Stand for 10 min before carving.
Sooo good. And enjoy it!! Just not too often 😉
As always – SHARE, SHARE, SHARE away if you like the recipe, and PLEASE post me some pics and a comment if you have a go at it (and hopefully love it)!!
xx Dr Megs
