My Cantonese-style air fryer pork belly with crackling skin. Parboiled, scored and dried overnight for the crunch you'd only expect from a full roast.
Category
Dinner
Servings
4
Prep time
24 hours
Cook time
1 hour 05 minutes
This is my take on Cantonese-style crispy pork belly done entirely in the air fryer. The pork is parboiled, scored, marinated and then left to dry out in the fridge overnight before cooking. It goes in low and slow first to render the fat and cook the meat through, then the temperature cranks up to blister the skin into proper crackling. The result is juicy meat underneath with a crunch on top that you would normally only get from a full roast.
The overnight drying step is what separates good crackling from great crackling. Once you’ve prepped the pork it goes into the fridge uncovered so the skin can dry out completely. It only takes about 10 minutes of hands-on work, but you need to plan a day ahead. If you try to rush this step the skin won’t crisp up the way it should. Give it a full night in the fridge uncovered and you’ll get the crackling right.
Ingredient Notes
Pork belly: Ask your butcher for a centre-cut piece with an even thickness, which helps with consistent cooking throughout. Skin on is essential for the crackling. Aim for around 1kg, which fits well in most air fryers and gives you enough for four people. A flat, even slab is ideal.
Shaoxing wine: Shaoxing is a Chinese rice wine and one of the foundational flavours in Cantonese cooking. It adds depth and a slight sweetness to the flesh. You can find it at most Asian grocery stores. Dry sherry is the closest substitute if you can’t get hold of it.
Chinese five spice: Five spice is a blend of star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper and fennel seeds. It’s what gives this pork its distinctly Cantonese character. You’ll find it at most supermarkets or any Asian grocery store. A little goes a long way.
Equipment
- Chopping board
- Cleaver or large chef’s knife
- Large wide saucepan
- Air fryer
- Wire rack and baking tray
- Foil
- Meat tenderiser or metal skewers
- Large bowl
Ingredients
- 1kg (2.2 lb) pork belly, skin on
- 3 tsp Shaoxing wine
- ½ tsp Chinese 5 spice
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- sea salt, extra
- black vinegar and soy dipping sauce, to serve
- ice water
Directions
Parboil the pork
Place enough water in a wide saucepan to submerge pork and place over medium-high heat.
- Bring to a boil, then add the pork, skin side down, and cook for 1 minute, until the skin changes colour.
- Carefully turn pork over and cook for a further 30 seconds. Transfer the pork to a large bowl of iced water, and use a sharp knife to scrape off any debris on the skin surface.
- Remove from the bowl and place onto paper towels. Pat the pork dry with a paper towel.
Score and marinate the pork
Turn pork over and score the flesh with 5mm (0.2in) deep slits at 2.5cm (1 in) wide crossways and vertically to make squares. Take care not to cut through the skin.
- Sprinkle the shaoxing all over the flesh side of the pork.
- Combine Chinese 5 spice, garlic powder, salt, sugar and white pepper in a small bowl, then season liberally all over the meat and down into the slits.
- Turn it over so the skin is facing up. Pierce the skin with a meat tenderiser (or skewers) until you have made little holes all over the skin.
Place a large piece of foil (doubled over) on a wire rack on a tray and place your pork on top skin side up. Try and make sure your pork skin is level, you can put extra foil underneath any sections that need to be propped up. Fold the foil up around the flesh to make a wall so that only the skin is exposed. Season the skin with a little salt.
- Place in the fridge overnight to dry out.
Cook
Preheat an air fryer to 160°C (320°F). Place the pork in the air fryer on its tray and cook for 45 minutes.
- Increase the temperature to 200°C (395°F), and cook for a further 15 minutes, until the skin is crispy.
- Rest the pork for at least 15 mins then chop it up using the scored marks in the flesh and serve with a dipping sauce of soy and black vinegar.
Recipe video
Recipe notes
Chef Tips
Why we parboil
Parboiling means briefly cooking the pork in boiling water before anything else. For this recipe, it does two things: it tightens the skin so you can pierce it more easily with the tenderiser, and it starts drawing out some of the moisture from the surface. After parboiling, transfer the pork straight into iced water to stop the cooking, then pat it completely dry with paper towel. Any moisture left on the surface will work against you at every step that follows.
Pierce the skin thoroughly
The more holes you put in the skin before it goes in the fridge overnight, the better the crackling. Work all the way across the entire surface with the tenderiser or skewers. The holes allow moisture to escape and fat to render out during cooking, which is what creates the blistered, crunchy crackling. Don’t be shy with it.
Build a foil wall
Fold the foil up around the sides of the pork to create a wall before it goes in the air fryer. This traps the fat that renders out during the low-temperature cook and keeps the flesh sitting in it. It essentially confits the meat, keeping it incredibly juicy, while the skin above the wall stays completely dry and crisps up properly.
Marinate and dry overnight
After scoring and marinating the flesh side, the pork goes into the fridge uncovered overnight. The marinating allows the Shaoxing wine and spices to penetrate into the meat, building flavour from the inside out. The overnight drying is just as important: leaving the skin exposed to the cold, dry air of the fridge pulls out the remaining moisture. The drier the skin going into the air fryer, the better the crackling coming out.
Storage
This is best eaten straight after cooking while the crackling is still crispy. The skin will soften if the pork is refrigerated and reheated. If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheat in the air fryer at 200°C for 8 to 10 minutes, though the crackling won’t be as good as fresh.
FAQs
Can I make this ahead of time? The pork can be fully prepped and left to dry in the fridge overnight, ready to cook the next day. That’s actually built into the recipe. Beyond that, it’s best cooked and eaten fresh as the crackling won’t survive refrigerating.
Do I need a meat tenderiser? No. Metal skewers or even a fork work just as well for piercing the skin. The goal is to make as many small holes as possible all the way across the surface, so use whatever you have that can do that.
What do I serve it with? I serve it with a dipping sauce of soy and black vinegar, which is the classic Cantonese accompaniment. Steamed rice is the natural side. A simple Asian slaw or rice noodles also work well alongside it.
