30-Min Crispy Pork Belly Thai-Style
User Reviews
5
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Servings
4 servings
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Course
Main Course, Breakfast
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Cuisine
Thai
30-Min Crispy Pork Belly Thai-Style
Description
The recipe starts by trimming skin from pork belly while leaving fat intact for flavor and moisture. The pork is sliced into strips and shorter pieces to create bite-sized portions that shrink after frying. These pieces are massaged with fish sauce, sugar, and ground white pepper to evenly season without excess liquid. Next, a light coating of all-purpose flour mixed with cornstarch covers the pieces, helping to form a crisp crust. After letting the coated pork rest briefly, it is fried in oil deep enough to cover the pieces, frying until the outside is crispy and golden while the interior remains tender. This preparation delivers a flavorful pork belly with contrasting textures from the crunchy crust and soft meat inside. The dish can be served with Nam Jim Jeaw dipping sauce for added tang and spice. The instructions allow for substitutions to make the dish gluten-free by replacing all-purpose flour with cornstarch.
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork belly see note 1, skinless
- 1 ½ tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour see note 2
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- cooking oil as needed, for frying
- Nam Jim Jeaw optional dipping sauce
Instructions
- Pat the pork belly dry as much as possible with a paper towel, then remove the skin with a sharp knife, leaving as much of the fat on it as possible (unless you want to remove some of the fat).
- Cut the pork into 1-inch wide strips, and then cut each strip into pieces about ¾-inch thick. (The pork will shrink after frying so the final pieces will be smaller).
- Place the pork into a large mixing bowl and add the fish sauce, sugar, and white pepper. Use your hand to massage the pork and mix all the seasonings. Keep massaging for a minute or so until you no longer feel the grains of sugar, and there is no more fish sauce pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine the all-purpose flour and the cornstarch and mix well. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pork and mix well, making sure none of the pieces are sticking together. You want a light and even coating on all the pieces. Let it sit for 5 mins or so while you heat up the oil.
- Add at least 1 inch of frying oil to a wok or a medium pot and heat it to 350°F (175°C) for the first fry.
- First Fry: Add half of the pork, placing it in the hot oil one piece at a time to ensure they are not sticking together. Fry for 2 minutes (time this). Maintain the heat of the oil between 300-350°F during the frying; on my electric stove I keep it on medium high, but it will vary from stove to stove.
- Remove the pork promptly and place on a plate to cool until it’s no more than lukewarm before frying them a second time. Repeat with the second batch, being sure to bring the oil temp back up to 350°F before frying.
- Second Fry: Once the pork is cool, bring the oil temp up to 385°F(196°C) over high heat. Add the pork all at once and fry for 70-90 seconds, or until the exterior is a deep golden brown. You can fry them for a maximum of 2 minutes; beyond this the pork will become too dry. Remove and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Be sure to bring the temp back up to 385°F before frying the second batch.
- Allow the pork to cool for a few minutes before digging in as the fatty part of the pork is VERY hot out of the fryer!!
Notes
- Purchase at least 1.2 lb pork belly with skin to yield 1 lb skinless pork belly after trimming.
- Choose pork belly with even meat distribution (center cut) for balanced texture.
- Substitute all-purpose flour with cornstarch to make the recipe gluten-free.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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