Pork Belly : a rustic and gourmet cut
How to cook pork belly: pork belly at the bbq and beyond!
For us at Carne online Genuina there is a new season: that of grilling! Among the many classic cuts of meat (such as salami, ribs, ribs) or gourmet (Fiorentina or Porterhouse steak), we always like to discover and offer in our online butcher's shop the most sought-after cuts of meat which are also popular overseas. This new added cut is well known in Italian cuisine, but is often used as a condiment or flavoring in recipes: we are talking about pork belly - aka pork belly -.
Pork belly - or in the Italian translation "fresh pancetta" - is often added to many dishes that we prepare every day and, like other cuts of meat, it is often not valued for what it is in its purity: a rustic cut but gourmet. In recent years, famous chefs from all over the world are enjoying interpreting many recipes with pork belly in the most disparate ways: either with the addition of crunchy rind as an extra note in some dishes, or with a long cooking of the baked bacon or even with a nice caramelization based on soy sauce or teriyaki.
Gordon Ramsay's pork belly, then, is acclaimed in all the cooking blogs, for its simplicity (in the ingredients) but complexity in the reproduction and in the final taste. Furthermore, the Chinese culinary tradition has many recipes based on pork belly such as crispy pork belly, pork belly in soup or caramelized pork belly in teriyaki sauce. Among the thousand recipes available, which one to choose to prepare a dish that will amaze guests, without spending hours and hours preparing and cooking? Here, once again, good barbecue comes to the rescue like a good old friend and offers us the solution for how to make grilled pork belly and keep all its qualities and aromas intact. Let's see the recipe for BBQ pork belly.
Pork belly easy barbecue recipe
Ingredients for BBQ pork belly
- 1 kg of pork belly with rind - pork belly
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Salt and Pepper To Taste
- Modena PGI balsamic vinegar to taste
For the RUB
- granular garlic powder to taste
- sweet or spicy paprika to taste
- or use Pork Rub 18
Method for pork belly at the BBQ
First, with the knife we cut the rind creating a checkerboard-like shape, trying to also cut the underlying fat for a couple of centimetres.
Now let's proceed with the marinade, brush the pork belly with extra virgin olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with Pork Rub 18 (or with a mix of salt, pepper, paprika and garlic). We try to distribute the rum evenly, also penetrating into the spaces of the cuts.
We light the embers and, if we want to add a particular and smoky tone, we also add some apple or cherry wood to the charcoal. We try not to put the pork belly in direct contact with the flame but to create indirect cooking at around 140°C.
Place the pork belly on the grill with the meat side (the rind will be upwards) and start cooking the pork until it reaches a temperature of around 85°C at the core.
When we are close to cooking, we need to increase the temperature by adding charcoal to the grill. We continue cooking until the core temperature reaches 200°C. Now, turn the pork belly, brush the rind with more oil and RUB and cook on this side.
As soon as a nice crust has been created - crispy pork belly - remove it from the heat, let it rest for a short while and make nice slices following the natural openings that will have been created. For an extra gourmet touch you can create small cubes following the chessboard created during the preparation phase.
We serve it nice and hot in a sandwich or accompanied by fresh vegetables, lemon (to degrease), mustard grains or by sprinkling Modena balsamic vinegar on top.
