Grilled Pork Belly Recipe

1. Prep your pork belly by taking something sharp, like the needle from the Napoleon Marinade Injector, and stab the skin of the pork belly about one thousand times. Yes, seriously one thousand, or close to it. You don't have to count though, roughly one thousand. Remember to hit the skin and not yourself. The goal is the pierce the skin so that the fat can render through making it crispy.
2. In a small dish or ramekin, combine the salt and baking soda. Sprinkle the skin and rub it in. This will help tenderize things.
3. Refrigerate the pork bellies uncovered for 8 to 24 hours, preferably in a well-vented area in your fridge. Don’t crowd the bellies, you want airflow.
4. Rinse off the pork belly and pat it dry. Then spoon the vinegar over the skin to neutralize the baking soda. If the vinegar bubbles a lot, re-rinse the pork belly. You want no baking soda left. Pat the pork bellies dry again.
5. We’re starting low and slow for this recipe, so preheat your grill to around 325°F to 350°F, preparing for indirect cooking. You also want to line a cooking tray with foil and then place a rack over that. This way the pork belly doesn’t sit in its lovely rendered fats.
6. In a saucepan, combine the sesame oil, maple syrup, and sake, remove a few tablespoons to a separate bowl before adding the red pepper flakes. In a separate bowl combine the pepper, brown sugar, garlic, and Chinese Five Spice. Brush all sides of the pork bellies with the maple syrup mixture that you set aside, then rub thoroughly with the brown sugar mixture.
7. Grill-roast the pork for about 90 minutes over indirect heat. Then you want to crank things up. If you have it, throw on the rear burner to high. We want to get your grill up to 500°F. If you don’t have the rear burner, turning on a second burner will do nicely too. Continue cooking for another 15 to 30 minutes, or until the skin of your pork belly has puffed up and is crispy. If you are using the rear burner, remember to keep an eye on the belly and turn it around about half way through to get an even crisp.
8. While the pork belly is finishing off, bring the saucepan with the maple syrup, sake and pepper flakes to a simmer until it has thickened.
9. When it’s all cooked, remove the pork belly from the grill. Turn it on its side or skin side down and slice it into ¼ - inch thick slices. Serve it on a bed of rice topped with a drizzle of the maple syrup sauce you made and topped with some green onion and sesame seeds. We recommend a salad to go with this dish as well.

This Grilled Pork Belly with Maple & Chinese Five Spice was rich; you won’t be making this every night. It’s also amazing. Delicious. Incredible. I have never tried cracklings before. That’s the skin of the pig that’s been fried, or crisp-i-fied in some manner. Honestly, when I found out what cracklings were I never wanted to eat it. Though, after tasting this, I will definitely be trying these again. Leave me a comment and tell me what I should do with the next bit of pork belly that I get my hands on. I would love to hear your ideas.