Malt Glazed Roast Pork Crackling Food

PORK ROAST WITH CRISPY PORK CRACKLING

Steps:

• Dry skin: Pat the skin dry with paper towels. If time permits, leave in the fridge uncovered overnight (even 1 hr helps). If not, pat extra well.
• Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan).
• Season flesh: Sprinkle pork flesh with 1 1/2 tsp salt, all the pepper and all fennel seeds and 1 tbsp olive oil. Rub into flesh, right into all the crevices and cracks.
• Salt skin: Flip pork, drizzle skin with 1 tsp oil, then rub all over with fingers. Sprinkle all over with remaining 1 1/2 tsp salt, taking care to get even coverage. Un-salted patches will not become bubbly crackling, it will be a hard flat sheet.
• Garlic & onion bed: Place halved garlic bulbs and onion in roasting pan. Place pork skin side up on top of them.
• Wine: Carefully pour wine into the pan, being sure not to wet the skin. Transfer to oven.
• Lower oven: Immediately turn oven down to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan).
• Slow roast: Roast for 2 1/2 hours.
• Level at 1 1/2 hours: Check pork after 1 1/2 hours to see if the pork is warped and the skin's overall surface is significantly unlevelled. If so, adjust to make the skin surface as level as possible using balls of foil and moving large dislodged pork pieces to the side (key tip for crispy crackling, Note 3). Then return to oven for the remaining 1 hour.
• Check pan & salt on skin: If pan is drying out, add some water. If there are bald patches on the skin without salt (eg it fell off), spray lightly with oil spray (or brush lightly with oil) then sprinkle with salt. (Remember, salt = bubbly skin!)
• Increase heat: Turn oven up to 250°C/485°F (all oven types), or as high as it will go if your oven won't go this high.
• Make skin crisp: Return pork to oven for 30 minutes, rotating pan as needed, until skin is crisp and bubbly all over. If needed, use foil patches, secured with water soaked toothpicks, to cover parts that are done and keep crisping up remaining patches.
• Rest: Transfer pork to serving platter, tent loosely with foil (don't worry, crackling stays super-crisp) and rest for 20 minutes (stays warm up to 1 hour). Then slice using a serrated knife.
• Serve with gravy. Don't pour gravy over crackling - pour it off to the side! See note for reheating.

MALT-GLAZED ROAST PORK & CRACKLING

Steps:

• Put the pork skin in a shallow bowl, add a pinch of salt and pour over the vinegar. Leave for 2 mins then place, skin-side up, on a wire rack set over a roasting tray. Set aside somewhere cool.
• Mix the nutmeg and thyme with 1 tbsp sea salt. Score the fat on the pork loin, rub the nutmeg spice all over, then put in the fridge for 1 hr. Meanwhile, put the honey in a small saucepan, cook until it's a dark caramel, then add the soy, stock and malt extract, bring back to the boil and simmer until reduced by about half.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Remove the pork from the fridge, sit in a shallow roasting tray, brush with the warm glaze, then cook in the oven for 10 mins, glaze again and repeat the process four more times over the next hr.
• When the pork has 30 mins left, put the pork skin on a tray on the shelf above. After 1 hr, check the pork is cooked with a digital thermometer - it should be 68C or above. Remove from the oven, brush once more with the glaze and rest for about 20 mins while the pork skin crisps to crackling. Serve the pork on a large chopping board with the broken crackling. Serve with roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese.

ROAST PORK RECIPE- CHINESE STYLE (烧肉/ SIEW YOKE)

Steps:

• Bring a pot of shallow water to a boil. Blanch the pork belly in water for 10 minutes, skin side down. After blanching, remove the pork and let it cools.
• Scrape the skin with a knife to remove any dirt and remaining hairs.
• Prick multiples small hole on the skin with a small fork.
• Make a few shallow cuts on the flesh side of the pork, halfway through the meat.
• Mix all the marinade ingredients. Combine the seasoning in a small bowl, then massage it all over the meat, particularly between the cuts.
• Keep the skin clean from the marinade.
• Mix one tablespoons of white vinegar with a half teaspoon of baking soda in a small bowl. Apply a thin layer of the mixture on the skin.
• Keep the pork in the fridge overnight.
• Remove the pork belly from the refrigerator at least one hour before roasting so that the pork returns to room temperature.
• Sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt on the skin just before it goes in the oven. Wipe off the excess moisture.
• Apply a thin layer of oil on the skin. Roast the pork on a medium rack for 1.5 hours at 150°C.
• Now place the pork on the top rack. Change the oven setting to 230°C, top heat only for thirty minutes, or until the skin has turned to golden brown with multiple blisters.