Crunchy Nam Yu Sio Bak (Roasted Pork Belly) 南乳烧肉

Crunchy Nam Yu Sio Bak (Roasted Pork Belly) 南乳烧肉

There are tons of sio bak recipes around and why do I want to come up with another one? This recipe promises a Super Yummy Sio Bak with Exploding Crunch & Bursting Juiciness. Moreover, no tedious poking required. #notexaggerating

Actually I’m not a fan of sio bak. I mean last time. That’s because I have not eaten one that has a wow factor until last year in penang. Even the so call famous sio bak was like a piece of salty meat with Crunchy skin. Nothing too fanciful. However, the one I had in Penang converted me. It was very well flavored yet not overly salty. I cannot believe sio bak can taste like this.. tender with juiciness. That’s what I want to achieve – my kind of perfect sio bak.

How to achieve the Juiciest Sio Bak?BRINING is the answer!

What is Brining?

Brining is the process of marinating the meat in a salt infused water. This process bring maximum juiciness to the piece of meat by hydrating the muscle cells of the meat. The duration of brining ranges from hours to day depending on the size of the piece of meat. For more info, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brining

THIS RECIPE BRINE A 800G TO 1 KG PORK BELLY FOR 10 HOURS.Any piece bigger or smaller has to increase or decrease accordingly.

You will need to make the brine in advance and allow it to cool before adding to the scored pork belly. *Be very careful when adding the brine to the belly. Avoid contacting the skin with any liquid. You will be brining and air drying the skin at the same time to ensure a very well-flavoured and juicy Sio Bak with perfect crackling

This recipe also do not require the tedious poking that traditional recipe called for. All you need is to score the skin of the belly as shown belly

Scoring the skin also ensure easier cutting of the sio bak. No more messy cutting and crispy skin breaking away from the sio bak. *when scoring, avoid cutting into the meat. Just score into the skin and slightly into the fats.

When cooked, let it rest for 5 to 10 mins and then cut along the lines. This method ensures perfect crackling without poking and allows you to cut without breaking the crispy skin from the meat.

This recipe provides both Air Fryer & Oven Roasting Methods.

For Nam Yu (Fermented Beancurd) flavored Sio Bak, you will need an additional step. Remove the pork belly from the brine (be very careful and not allow any liquid get in contact with the skin). Rub the pork belly with Nam Yu mixture (except the skin)

Continue the marination for another 3 to 4 hours. *skip this step if you do not want the Nam Yu taste. It will be as tasty.

Preheat the Air fryer for about 5 mins @ 180 degree Celsius and air fry for 40 mins

Or

Preheat the Oven to 220 degree celsius for 30 mins (For non-fan assisted oven, increase the temperature to 250 degree celsius). Roast the Pork Belly for an hour*the timing is based on a 800g Pork Belly. Increase or decrease the timing accordingly for bigger or smaller piece of pork belly used.