Perfect for a BBQ: Japanese pork belly recipe
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SERVES 6–8
Ingredients
*1.2kg pork belly, rind removed, fat scored
*Tortilla wraps, to serve
*4 spring onions, sliced, to serve
For the rub
*1 tbsp sea salt
*2 tsp ground ginger
*1 tsp chilli flakes
*2 tsp black pepper
For the glaze
*100ml Japanese soy sauce
*200ml mirin
*2 tbsp white miso paste
*100ml Japanese rice vinegar
*1 tbsp sesame oil
*1 tbsp honey
Method
1. Get your cooker stupidly hot. Like a furnace from hell. We are talking 250–275°C.
2. Mix the rub ingredients together in a bowl. Mix the glaze ingredients together in a separate bowl. This is a fresh glaze so you don’t need to cook it. Measure 100ml of the glaze into the spice mix. Make sure you’ve scored the fat on the pork belly, and rub the mix all over the belly.
3. Place the wet rubbed pork belly fat side up on the indirect side of the grill and get the lid on. After about 15–20 minutes, the glaze will start to char and you need to slow the cook down.
4. Here’s where we challenge your fire management skills. You need to drop the heat down and get your cooker to 115–130°C . To do this, suffocate your fuel and cut off the oxygen flow by closing the pinwheels on the cooker.
5. Once your cooker is stable, leave the pork belly to cook. Brush the glaze on every 45 minutes. Keep the lid down and only look when glazing or topping up fuel. Remember, if you’re looking, it ain’t cooking. Timing depends on your cooker – basically, it’s done when it’s done.
6. I’ve cooked this recipe in 2½ hours and I’ve also taken 6 hours. So, how do you tell when it’s done? Well, pork belly needs to be tender, but not falling apart. You want a little bit of a bite. But you need to get those fats to render down for flavour. You don’t want to chew through lukewarm fat. You’ll know when it’s done by the ‘meat wobble’ – it should jiggle like jelly to the touch. You can also use a spoon to press into the fat. When there’s a good amount of give, then you are ready to feast. If it’s still tough and unforgiving, you need to keep going.
7. Once done, leave to rest for 20 minutes. Then slice into slabs of tasty porkalicious goodness! Pop onto a tortilla and sprinkle with spring onions.
More from Fire Food:
Fire Food: The Ultimate BBQ Cookbook by DJ BBQ (Quadrille, £15) photography © David Loftus