Instructions

1. We firstly blanch the pork belly by placing it into a pot of boiling water for 5 mins. After that, cool down the pork belly into iced water for another 5 mins.
   Blanching is a common technique in Southeast Asian. The mean idea is to get rid of the rough taste of the meat. Also, the pork skin is much easier to get poked through after quick boil.
2. Scrape the skin with the knife to remove the impurities and hairs.
   Pat dry the pork belly with a kitchen paper.
3. poke lots holes in the skin to create the crispy texture. The more holes in the skin, the crispier it will be.
4. Flip the pork belly over. Cut only the meat part into strip size. Do not cut too deep through the skin.
5. Massage the meat part with some chinese cooking wine.
6. Preparing the seasoning . 1 tablespoon five spice powder. 2 tablespoons of sugar. 3 tablespoon of salt.
7. Massage the seasoning all over except the skin.
8. Flip the pork belly over, use a foil paper to wrap the meat part. This is to keep the moisture of the meat when we air dry the whole pork belly in the fridge later.
9. Pat dry the skin. Remove any seasoning attached on the skin otherwise that part will be burnt very easily.
10. Add some sea salt on top to facilitate drawing the water out from the skin.
11. put it the fridge overnight or at least 6 hrs
12. The morning after. Remove the sea salt on the pork belly.
13. Brush some vinegar/lemon juice on the skin. The acidity of the vinegar help conduct the heat and makes the crackling sooner and the pork belly much crisper.
14. Preheat the oven at 400 F/200 C. roast the pork belly for 25 mins. Each oven is different so the roasting time may vary. The key is to observe the process from time to time to until the skin gets brown and puffy.
    (tip: you may put a tray underneath to collect the pork oil. You can use the pork oil for cooking. Or simply mix it with a bowl of plain rice. It tastes really good! Also, it makes cleaning much easier. )
15. Increase the temperature to 480F/ 250C and bake for 5 mins to finish the process.
16. Once done. Cool down the pork belly in room temperature for 20 mins before you cut it. Otherwise, the skin can crack very easily.
    Cut it into the small pieces and transfer it into the serving plate.