I found a recipe for pork belly that not only produced crunchy skin, but also provided a suggestion that helped cover the gamey taste in the pork.
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
A few months ago, I roasted pork for the first time at home. Since then, I’ve been wanting to find a way to remove or minimize the gamey taste that sometimes appears. With some research online, I learned that one way to camouflage the unwanted flavor is by using a strongly-flavored sauce.
Inspiring Recipe
After some more investigation, I came across a food blog, RecipeTin Eats. On there was a recipe, Chinese Crispy Pork Belly, that had a suggestion to serve the pork with mustard, which sounded like a solution for my dilemma.
First Try
After buying some skin-on pork belly, I was ready to try this new recipe.
Ingredients to Use
Starting with 1.56 pounds of pork belly, I followed the measurements in the recipe for the remaining ingredients, except for the rock salt. For that, I substituted it with sea salt.
However, before making the change, I had to figure out how much sea salt to use. By taking the suggested amount of kosher salt, one of the alternatives listed for rock salt, I made the conversion using a table in the article, Kosher Salt: Explained. With the help of this reference from the food blog, A Couple Cooks, I set aside the following amount of sea salt as a replacement:
- 6 ounces + 1/2 tablespoon + 1/3 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon
Steps to Prepare
For the process, I followed the Foolproof Easy Method listed under the Recipe Notes section of the recipe. After marinating the pork belly for almost 19 1/2 hours, I only made a minor modification to one step. Instead of brushing the skin with vinegar, I just used a spoon, since I didn’t have a brush.
Time to Eat
After the pork belly was cut into bite-sized pieces, I just served it with yellow mustard.
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 |  | |  |
Though the pork was tender and went well with the creamy mustard, the skin and parts of the meat were a little too salty. Also, while some areas of the skin were crunchy, others were hard and chewy.
Second Try
For the second batch, my main focus was to get the skin to be crunchy throughout, not hard or tough.
Ingredients to Use
To repeat this experiment, I used 1.35 pounds of pork belly and decreased the rest of the ingredients in the original recipe. The amount that I used for each item is as follows:
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of Chinese cooking wine
- 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons + 1/8 teaspoon of white vinegar
- 3 ounces + 1 tablespoon of sea salt
Steps to Prepare
The only difference in the process between the first and second sessions was that I only had time to marinate the pork belly for about 3 1/2 hours.
As for roasting the pork belly at the end, I was ready to do it for more than 30 minutes to get the skin uniformly crunchy. However, it didn’t look like it was necessary.
Time to Eat
Since the amount of mustard served with the first batch was too much, I just added a little to the serving plate this time.
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second attempt:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | | | |
The pork belly came out well this time. It had the right amount of salt, tender meat, and crunchy skin. Also, though the meat smelled porky, it didn’t taste bad, especially with the mustard. Lastly, the kids really enjoyed it!
Even though the mustard with crispy pork belly was good, I was given ketchup with it as a kid. To explore additional flavors for this meat, I’ll do the following next time:
Continuous Improvement
- Serve the pork belly with sugar, as noted in the recipe.
Since I had known mustard to be bitter, sour, and spicy, I never intentionally used it on my food. However, by serving it in this recipe, I learned the following that I’d like to share with my younger self:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Retry flavors that you disliked because you might like them later in life.
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the recipe, Chinese Crispy Pork Belly, from food blog, RecipeTin Eats?
- Learn different ways to handle gamey pork starting with reading the blog post, How To Get Rid Of Gamey Taste In Pork: Cause and Prevention, on BBQHost.com?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)
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