Crispy Pork Belly with Char Siu sauce

We found thick meaty strips of pork belly at United Noodle and decided to make a dinner out of them. My son combined two recipes to create this fairly simple but succulent dish. It does take some planning ahead to do the bake and chill steps, so be ready to start preparations the night before you plan to serve it. Even without the sauce, the pork is delicious.

Crispy Pork Belly with Char Siu Sauce
Pork recipe from All Recipes
Sauce recipe from Cafe Delites
Serve 5

For the pork:
10 strips pork belly
salt
pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 Tblsp olive oil

For the sauce:
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce (use tamari for a gluten-free version)
1 Tblsp dry sherry
2 Tblsp brown sugar
1 Tblsp honey
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp five spice powder

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Lay out the pork belly strips in a single layer on parchment paper. Season the strips on both sides with salt, pepper and paprika. Wrap them up in the parchment, then wrap in a second layer of foil. Bake in a lasagna pan for 6 hours. Remove from oven and let the pork packet cool to room temperature. Chill the packet for 8 hours or longer.

Make the sauce: Combine the hoisin, soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, honey, garlic and five spice powder in a small saucepan. Stir and bring to a boil, allow to simmer for 5-8 minutes until thickened.

Unwrap the chilled meat and save any rendered fat that falls away. Fry the pork in 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat in a cast iron skillet until crisp on all sides. Transfer the pork belly slices to a serving plate.

Brush each pork belly slice with sauce and serve hot over rice.