Pork Belly

Carolina Q

Bought one once, made bacon. Good, but no better than Oscar Mayer. Been doing a little research and it sounds like there are many other delicious ways to prepare belly that don't involve bacon or curing. 

Otoh, if you Google restaurant pork belly, or some such, you will see platings of what appear to be thick slabs of nothing but FAT! It is supposed to be a to die for dish... but it looks disgusting. If I got a steak that looked like that, I'd trim most of it and regret going to Ponderosa.

So what's the deal? How do you prepare pork belly?

Discuss...

xfire_ATX

My Neighbor egged Pork Belly Burnt Ends over the weekend... they were incredibly good.

lkapigian

I do bacon...I've done this several times, I'll never buy store bought again ...i do cold smoke much longer 



https://youtu.be/BWRbTKnwtjc

Carolina Q

I've never quite understood what burnt ends are. Sounds like trimmings that  were (over)cooked again.

onedbguru

Carolina Q said:

I've never quite understood what burnt ends are. Sounds like trimmings that  were (over)cooked again.

Yes, but quite delicious!!!!

lousubcap

Here is a great pork belly burnt ends recipe: A winner every time.

http://howtobbqright.com/2017/04/17/pork-belly-burnt-ends/ 

And here is a link to a slightly modified approach that is an enhancement from my perspective:

Pork Belly Burnt Ends-Malcom Reed with @Sea2Ski's adaptation  Go forth and experiment and above all, enjoy. 
Edit:  Just grabbed a 5 lb belly today from Costco to fire these up again.  Meat candy at the highest level.  

CornfedMA

I’ve done pork belly burnt ends a few times, theyre good, Theyre also incredibly rich, like I couldn’t more than 3-4 in a sitting RICH. I’m all about doing bacon. Dry cure for 7-10 days with nothing more than kosher salt, curing salt, Black pepper and pure maple syrup. Then cold smoke with apple pellets in the Amazen smoker for 6-8 hrs. Absolutely incredible. Just make sure you get a decently thick piece of belly. 

unoriginalusername

Carolina Q said:

Bought one once, made bacon. Good, but no better than Oscar Mayer. Been doing a little research and it sounds like there are many other delicious ways to prepare belly that don't involve bacon or curing. 

Otoh, if you Google restaurant pork belly, or some such, you will see platings of what appear to be thick slabs of nothing but FAT! It is supposed to be a to die for dish... but it looks disgusting. If I got a steak that looked like that, I'd trim most of it and regret going to Ponderosa.

So what's the deal? How do you prepare pork belly?

Discuss...

Did this, it was awesome 
https://youtu.be/fV9JtsIC2Ek

HeavyG

The Alamazan Kitchen guys just put out a crispy pork belly video a week ago that looks worth a go (however, you might still find it too fatty):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjTL4wqPH4E

Legume

Carolina Q said:

Bought one once, made bacon. Good, but no better than Oscar Mayer.

You know that first pizza you made didn’t stand head and shoulders above the corner pizzeria.

Carolina Q said:

Otoh, if you Google restaurant pork belly, or some such, you will see platings of what appear to be thick slabs of nothing but FAT! It is supposed to be a to die for dish... but it looks disgusting. If I got a steak that looked like that, I'd trim most of it and regret going to Ponderosa.

This is magical, silky pork fat that turns into meat when you cook it.  Your mouth won’t know it’s fat, just your blood work.

lousubcap

Just give it a go.  Worst thing is you will not do it again but based on personal experience.  FWIW-

thetrim

Pork belly is a thing of beauty!

Carolina Q

Legume said:

You know that first pizza you made didn’t stand head and shoulders above the corner pizzeria.

Hard to argue that one!

Carolina Q

lousubcap said:

Here is a great pork belly burnt ends recipe: A winner every time.

http://howtobbqright.com/2017/04/17/pork-belly-burnt-ends/ 

And here is a link to a slightly modified approach that is an enhancement from my perspective:

Pork Belly Burnt Ends-Malcom Reed with @Sea2Ski's adaptation  Go forth and experiment and above all, enjoy. 
Edit:  Just grabbed a 5 lb belly today from Costco to fire these up again.  Meat candy at the highest level.  

Thanks for the links. That's what I was lookin' for!

CtTOPGUN

 I took a slab out of the deep freezer today in advance of trying Malcolm Reed's belly burnt ends this weekend. I must read up on the sea2ski enhancements and decide.


   

Carolina Q

Just watched the Almazon vid... I dunno man... fried fat?

theyolksonyou

You should likely just move on. You’re too hung up on the fat

Acn

I just did some lettuce cups with thin sliced pork belly, marinated and then griddled.  

DMW

Acn said:

I just did some lettuce cups with thin sliced pork belly, marinated and then griddled.  

I want that.

Legume

Whenever I bring pork belly burnt ends somewhere (because I don’t trust them in the house), at least half the people think they are just meat.  The other half know what a pork belly is and don’t care.  The fat takes on more texture than what we think of as fat when it’s bits of it clinging to a steak or chop.

HeavyG

Carolina Q said:

Just watched the Almazon vid... I dunno man... fried fat?

Did we watch the same video? The only time the belly came into contact with hot oil was the initial sear on the skin in the very lightly oiled wok for about 30 seconds. The remainder of the cook was either sitting in a sauce made from the aromatics and tamarind paste and then finished by roasting in a sort of grill/dutch oven.

I think @theyolksonyou is right - if you're so concerned about fatty meat why bother with a pork belly at all?

Also, you should probably stay away from a top grade Wagyu steak.

YukonRon

Pork belly tacos are a favorite in our home. We use a sweet Thai chili sauce and they are incredible. Just bought another pork belly this week, sliced 1" thick specifically for some Asian dishes we will be doing upon return from Houston.

BobDanger

YukonRon said:

Pork belly tacos are a favorite in our home. We use a sweet Thai chili sauce and they are incredible. Just bought another pork belly this week, sliced 1" thick specifically for some Asian dishes we will be doing upon return from Houston.

Please post how you make it...I like the idea of Thai chili sauce.

GrillSgt

Never been a fan of pork belly other than bacon. 

THEBuckeye

This is a great recipe for PBBE's from Malcom Reed: 

http://howtobbqright.com/2017/04/17/pork-belly-burnt-ends/

SmokeyPitt

I have only had it in restaurants and I like it okay but it is not my favorite when it is in the big chunks. I think the lettuce wraps @Acn showed above looks excellent. I am assuming it is Korean inspired. 

Maangchi has a video/recipe. I have done her Bulgogi with ribeye and boneless beef short ribs and it was excellent. 

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dwaejibulgogi

Acn

SmokeyPitt said:

I have only had it in restaurants and I like it okay but it is not my favorite when it is in the big chunks. I think the lettuce wraps @Acn showed above looks excellent. I am assuming it is Korean inspired. 

Maangchi has a video/recipe. I have done her Bulgogi with ribeye and boneless beef short ribs and it was excellent. 

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dwaejibulgogi

That is correct, although I didn't have a recipe, just threw together the marinade.  It was grapeseed oil, tamari, rice vinegar, hoisin, lots of gochujang, and grated garlic and ginger.  There was some kimchi, napa cabbage slaw, and quick pickled bell peppers under the pork belly.

I am also not a huge fan of large chunks of pork belly, even when I do pork burnt ends I usually use boneless butt.

tarheelmatt

HeavyG said:

The Alamazan Kitchen guys just put out a crispy pork belly video a week ago that looks worth a go (however, you might still find it too fatty):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjTL4wqPH4E

Beautiful! I have one of those knives .

Carolina Q

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I like bacon (though I rarely eat it), and it appears that an Alamazan style belly (and all the other pics I've seen) is essentially an unsliced slab of bacon. Yet, to me, bacon looks good while a whole belly prepared like that does not.

When I posted this, I was hoping there was some way to prepare belly besides bacon or fried fat. The pork belly burnt ends look interesting. I may give those a shot. 

Otherwise, I guess I'll stick to my one slice of Oscar Mayer every couple of months. Or maybe I'll buy a belly, slice it up like bacon (but uncured) and fry it. That'll probably be like cooking a fresh ham - not bad, but not HAM!

RajunCajun

Malcolm's recipe for pork belly has got to produce the best bang for the buck for the taste buds.  What I love is that whatever party we attend, the little kids eat em up like they are candy.  They have no clue what they are eating, but they all line up like it was fine chocolate candy.

lkapigian

Carolina Q said:

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I like bacon (though I rarely eat it), and it appears that an Alamazan style belly (and all the other pics I've seen) is essentially an unsliced slab of bacon. Yet, to me, bacon looks good while a whole belly prepared like that does not.

When I posted this, I was hoping there was some way to prepare belly besides bacon or fried fat. The pork belly burnt ends look interesting. I may give those a shot. 

Otherwise, I guess I'll stick to my one slice of Oscar Mayer every couple of months. Or maybe I'll buy a belly, slice it up like bacon (but uncured) and fry it. That'll probably be like cooking a fresh ham - not bad, but not HAM!

I'm not much of a bacon eater, but it gets used in a lot of my cooks from poppers to smoked Mac and cheese, homemade bacon takes it to another level