Last Saturday, we threw a surprise birthday party for a friend. Since one of her favourite foods was belly pork, sio bak (chinese roast pork) and fried hokkien noodles (with pork!) was on the menu. Went to Cold Storage in United Square early Friday morning and a really friendly, upbeat young butcher (hmm.. dishy?) sold us a beautiful slab of belly pork. Quite lean, with just the right amount of fat to prevent it from drying out during roasting. Making sio bak is actually not that difficult, contrary to popular belief. It just takes a bit of planning and meticulous detail to preparation. A good hot oven is also essential. Ingredients:
- Belly pork, 1kg
- 5 spice powder
- coriander powder
- coarse salt
- white pepper
Rub the meat and skin all over with spice and salt mixture. Wrap the meat (bottom and sides) with cling film, leaving skin exposed.
Place in fridge overnight for skin to dry out. (a dry skin is essential for crisp crackling)
Next day, bring pork out and let it come to room temperature for an hour before roasting.
Pre-heat the oven to 200C
Place pork on a roasting rack, cover skin with a thick (5mm) layer of salt*
Roast pork in centre of oven for 50min
At the end of the 1st hour, take pork out, scrape off the salt, wipe the skin with kitchen paper and prick it all over again with a sharp knife or metal skewer.
Return to oven and roast for another 1h 20min (during the last 15min of this roasting period, the skin will start to to sizzle, crackle and pop - this is your reward for all that tedious scoring and salting) Remove from oven, let cool before cutting into slices.
Eat & Enjoy !! (and exercise the next day!)
*It sounds like a lot of salt, but most of it is removed and does not add significantly to the saltiness of the roast. If it is a concern, use less for the spice rub.
Oh yes, we also used a small portion of that slab to make the essential boiled pork slices that go into traditional fried hokkien mee.
