Chinese crispy pork belly. Better than takeout Chinese sticky pork belly featuring the delectable combo of sweet and spicy flavors. Crispy and succulent pork bites are coated in classic Chinese sauce making them perfect with rice and steamed vegetables. An easy yet delicious recipe to enjoy a restaurant-favorite at home!
Why I Love This Delicious Dish
The most important element that upgrades a good recipe to a lip-smacking dish is flavor. Tons of flavor from different ingredients that complements perfectly well with each other. To be honest, it’s all about the tiny details in the recipe like the way you cook it, the amount of each ingredient and how long you cook the dish. Even the low-key ingredients like pepper can pack a punch when it comes to creating the best recipe.
In my opinion, the best dishes are also pretty to look at. I adore this Chinese crispy pork belly with silky smooth dark sauce and a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds. This is one of my go-to recipe – perfect for both entertaining and weeknight dinner. The first part of this recipe is completely made in the slow cooker taking the hassle out of spending extra hours in the kitchen.
How To Make Chinese Crispy Pork Belly
This recipe has three parts – cooking pork belly, making the sauce and tossing belly bites in the sauce.
Onto the first part of the recipe – cooking pork belly. When buying the pork belly, you have three choices, whole pork, sliced or small bites. I’d highly recommend the whole pork as you can easily cook it in the slow cooker. The best part of cooking in a slow cooker? Obviously, more flavor.
To cook this in a slow cooker, place the pork belly in the cooking container of the slow cooker alongside chicken broth, garlic, ginger and a few cloves. Cook over low or high depending on your preference. Again, this part of the recipe can be done a day ahead. Once cooked, remove the pork belly carefully from the liquid and cut into cubes. The broth is super flavorful and delicious, you can use it to flavor other dishes like soups and stews.
Now the second part of making this Chinese crispy pork belly – making the sweet and spicy sauce. It’s a heavenly combo of minced ginger, brown sugar, honey, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar and red chili flakes. To level up the flavor, I also added in a touch of Chinese five spice. Even though this sauce tastes great with pork, feel free to marinate your favorite protein with this glaze.
Next up, quickly fry the pork cubes in a little oil until they are browned on all sides. Pour in the sauce and toss to coat.
Delicious bites of pork belly coated in sweet and spicy sticky sauce – Yum!
More Pork Recipes:
- Pork Vindaloo
- Indian Pork Curry
- Kerala Pork Fry (Pork Ularthiyathu)
- Spicy Pork Spare Ribs with Mashed Potato
More Chinese Recipes:
Chinese Pork Belly | Video
Ingredients
To cook pork belly:
- 2 kg pork belly
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
- ½ inch fresh ginger peeled and chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth stock
Glaze:
- 2 cm fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
- ½ teaspoon red pepper chili flakes
Other ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chopped spring onions or scallions to garnish
- Sesame seeds to garnish (optional)
- Steamed rice or Chinese fried rice to serve
- Steamed vegetables to serve
Instructions
Cook pork belly:
- Place pork belly in the slow cooker. Pour chicken broth (stock).
- Add ginger, garlic and cloves.
- Cover with lid. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours adding more stock (broth) or water if it is becoming too dry. (Alternatively, you can cook the pork belly over stove top. Add all the ingredients to a large saucepan and cook for 2 hours adding more water if needed)
- Remove pork belly from the slow cooker. Cut into large cubes. Set aside.
Prepare glaze:
- Combine together minced ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, honey, vinegar, Chinese five spice and red chili flakes in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Fry pork and add glaze:
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Arrange chopped pork cubes in a single layer. Fry until all sides are crispy and browned.
- Add the glaze. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes to create a sticky glaze that sticks to the pork belly. Toss the pork bites in the glaze.
- To serve, spoon pork belly over rice and serve with steamed vegetables.
- Garnish with spring onions (scallions) and sesame seeds.
Video
Nutrition
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