Crispy Skin Roast Pork in the Oven, Made with Monk Fruit Sweetener
International dishesGrilled DishesChina20 minutes boiling, 30 minutes roasting, not counting preparation and marinating
Crispy skin roast pork from a home oven stands or falls on a skin that blisters evenly. The difficulty is moisture: skin that is still damp stays chewy and never puffs.
The pork belly boils for 20 minutes with the skin kept above the water line, then the skin is pricked all over with a fork. A mixture of vinegar, baking powder and salt goes on only once the skin has been blotted completely dry, and then the pork goes into the oven.
This batch weighs about 2.1kg, at roughly 253 calories per 100g.
Method
Trim the bone and excess fat from the pork belly and wash it in 1 liter warm water mixed with 4 tablespoons vinegar and 4 tablespoons salt.
While washing, scrape the skin clean with a knife, working gently so it does not tear and the skin blisters evenly later.
Rinse twice in clean water and blot the pork completely dry with a towel. Score the meat side about 1 to 2cm deep so the seasoning gets in.
Mix the dry seasoning of 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder and 1 teaspoon black pepper, and rub it thoroughly over the underside and the sides, keeping it off the skin.
Mix 1/2 cube chao, 1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce, 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon oyster sauce until the chao breaks down, spread it over every side except the skin and leave it for 5 to 10 minutes.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pork for 20 minutes, keeping the skin above the water line.
Prick the skin all over with a fork or a bundle of skewers so it blisters better.
Mix 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and brush it over the skin once the skin has been blotted completely dry.
Heat the oven with top and bottom heat at 200 degrees C for 10 minutes, set the pork on a rack and roast at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes.
Take the tray out, brush more of the vinegar and baking powder mixture over the skin, then roast at 230 degrees C for 10 minutes or until the skin puffs evenly, and turn the oven off.
Tips
Fresh garlic does not belong in the dry seasoning, as it wets the meat and burns in the oven.
Salt on the meat side dries the pork out, so leave it out there.
A few slices of apple, pear, kohlrabi or carrot under the rack keep the oven from splattering.
The skin has to be blotted completely dry before the vinegar mixture goes on, since damp skin will not blister.
Chao and hoisin sauce are both stocked in Vietnamese supermarkets.
Rub the dry seasoning only on the underside and the sides, because anywhere it touches the skin will not blister.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.