Pork belly is one of my favorite things to cook. I pair it with a crunchy salad and a lemon dressing to balance out the richness. A yummy dish perfect for lunch that isn’t actually too heavy.
Ingredients:
Pork belly
Romaine lettuce
Red bell pepper
Avocado
Spring onion
Lemon
Olive oil
Honey
Soy sauce
Method:
Choose a piece of belly that has more meat than fat. Mix the honey and soy sauce in equal measures to create a sweet/ salty marinade. Cover the whole belly with the marinade and bake on a high heat, without a cover, for 40mins. Reduce heat to low and continue baking for another 30mins.
The salad is so simple and I like to keep it quite chunky.
Dressing:
Add about a ¼ cup of olive oil, the juice from a whole lemon (no seeds please) and a pinch of salt and pepper to a blender and blitz for 10secs. If you don’t have a blender use a coffee mug and a fork and put your back into it for 10secs.
The dressing should be emulsified, and for an extra kick you can add a tsp of Dijon mustard, but I prefer to have my mustard on the plate to pair with each bite of sticky pork.
Squeeze some lemon juice over the sliced pork after serving, or add a wedge to the plate so your guests can do it themselves.
Tips:
Use a glass, ovenproof, baking dish; a metal one will be a nightmare to clean.
You can cook it for an hour on your second, low setting for well-done meat with less fat. So 40mins on high and 60mins on low heat.
Pork belly should be served immediately after cooking, so have your salad and dressing ready.