Quick roast pork belly and sour apple sauce

Name: Quick roast pork belly and sour apple sauce
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4-6
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1kg pork belly, skin on, scored; 1 tbsp salt; 2 tbsp olive oil

Adam Liaw

May 22, 2018

Meat eaters should eat more pork and chicken and less beef and lamb as it's better for the environment.William Meppem

easyTime:2 hours +Serves:4-6

This slightly bitter-sweet and sour apple sauce is a lovely complement to a simple, never-fail roast pork belly.

Ingredients

1kg pork belly, skin on, scored
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

For the apple sauce

1 lemon, preferably a thin-pith meyer lemon
3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp honey
a pinch of salt

Method

Boil a kettle of water. Place the pork belly skin-up on a wire rack in the sink, and pour the boiling water over the skin. Once cool, rub the skin and flesh of the pork with salt. If you have time, rest this in the fridge for an hour or even overnight, but it can be cooked straight away if required.
For the apple sauce, place the whole lemon in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add the apple pieces and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
Remove the lemon and apple from the liquid. Quarter the lemon and remove any seeds, reserving the flesh. If your lemon has a thick pith, trim away a little of the pith, but not all. Transfer the lemon and apple to a blender or food processor and add the mustard, white vinegar, honey and salt. Process to a smooth purée.
Heat your oven to 240°C. Rub the pork all over with olive oil and place into a roasting pan, skin-side up. Roast for 45 minutes, until the skin is puffed and crackled. Reduce the heat to 180°C and roast for a further 20 minutes. Rest for 15 minutes, then slice and serve with the sour apple sauce.
Serve with Adam Liaw's red-cooked cabbage.