Grilled Asian-style pork belly

Crispy, spicy and wonderfully tender: this Asian-style pork belly recipe brings a change of pace to the barbecue and makes for a real BBQ highlight with a distinctive flavour. If you fancy barbecuing pork belly, here’s a sophisticated variation that combines intense flavour with a crispy exterior.

Whether as a special main course, to share with guests or as the star of your next barbecue evening: this barbecued pork belly impresses with its robust flavour, juicy meat and a preparation method that’s wonderfully easy to plan ahead.

Why this DIY pork belly recipe works so well

Pork belly is a particularly flavourful cut of meat with a balanced ratio of meat, fat and rind. This is precisely why it’s ideal for combining sous-vide cooking with grilling. Whilst the meat cooks gently in the water bath, it slowly tenderises and remains juicy. At the same time, the marinade can penetrate deep into the pork belly.

The big advantage is that when you subsequently crisp it up on the barbecue or in the oven, the pork belly doesn’t need to be cooked through any further. It’s simply a matter of getting the rind crispy and developing those roasted flavours. This ensures that pork belly cooked on the barbecue turns out perfectly controlled and full of flavour.

Ingredients for 4 people

• Approx. 1 kg pork belly
• 100 ml light soya sauce
• 60 g hoisin sauce
• 1 handful of coriander
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion
• 80 g ginger
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp chilli crunch or 1 chilli
• A little salt for the rind
• Approx. 1 tbsp rice vinegar

Required equipment

• Vacuum sealer
• Sous-Vide Set XXL
• 1 vacuum bag
• Blender
• Grill or oven with a grill function

Method: Asian-style pork belly, step by step

1. Prepare the marinade

To make the marinade, place the soya sauce, hoisin sauce, coriander, garlic, onion, ginger, miso paste, fish sauce, mirin and chilli crunch or chilli pepper in a blender. Blend everything until smooth to create a smooth, aromatic marinade.

2. Prepare and vacuum-seal the pork belly

Wash the pork belly thoroughly and then pat it dry well. Next, place it in a vacuum bag together with the marinade. The marinade should be distributed as evenly as possible over the meat.

Next, seal the bag airtight using a vacuum sealer. The vacuum ensures that the marinade clings closely to the meat, allowing it to infuse particularly deeply during cooking.

3. Cook the pork belly sous-vide

Place the vacuum-sealed pork belly into the preheated sous-vide basin and cook at 75 °C for 24 hours.

The long cooking time makes the pork belly particularly tender without drying it out. At the same time, the texture is preserved, so that the meat does not fall apart later on the barbecue. After cooking, carefully open the bag, collect the marinade and pat the pork belly thoroughly dry.

4. Reduce the marinade to a sauce

Pour the reserved marinade into a saucepan, heat it up and allow it to reduce slowly until it thickens. This creates a flavourful sauce that will go perfectly with the finished pork belly.

Next, place the pork belly on a baking tray lined with baking paper, ensuring it lies as flat as possible. Season the rind with a little salt and brush it with about 1 tbsp rice vinegar. This helps to ensure the surface turns out beautifully crispy when roasted.

5. Grill the pork belly or crisp it up in the oven

Now it’s time to finish off the pork belly: either crisp it up in a preheated oven at 250 °C using the grill setting, or directly on the barbecue for about 15 minutes.

If you’re cooking the pork belly on the barbecue, you should keep a close eye on it. The high fat content can cause the heat to build up quickly. An indirect heat zone or an area with controlled high heat is best. This ensures the rind becomes crispy without burning.

As soon as the surface is nicely crispy, remove the pork belly from the barbecue and leave it to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Conclusion: Grilling pork belly using the sous-vide method – guaranteed success

This pork belly recipe combines intense Asian flavours with a particularly reliable cooking method. Sous-vide cooking makes the pork belly tender and juicy, whilst the subsequent searing on the barbecue or in the oven creates the perfect crust.

If you’re looking to barbecue pork belly and are searching for a special recipe, this Asian-marinated pork belly is just the thing. Whether as a BBQ highlight, a special starter or a flavourful main course, this crispy pork belly is a DIY recipe that’s guaranteed to impress.

Have fun giving it a go!