Simple Tips for Making Crispy Roasted Pork with Perfect Crackling

Choosing Fresh Pork

For crispy roasted pork, it's best to choose pork belly from the lower abdomen of the pig. This cut has 3-5 layers of fat and lean meat intertwined, creating a solid piece. When roasted, the meat won’t dry out or become too fatty.

Choose pork with a natural pale pink color. The layers of meat and fat should be clearly distinct but still solid. Press your fingers into the meat to check for good elasticity. The meat should not have signs of bruising or white spots like grains of rice.

For crispy crackling, choose a piece with moderately thick skin. If the skin is too thin, it won’t crisp up as desired. If it’s too thick, it will be hard to crackle and could become tough.

Properly Preparing the Pork

Once you buy the pork, scrape off any remaining hairs. Rinse the pork with diluted salt water to remove surface dirt and eliminate odors. You can rub the pork with lemon juice and wash it again with clean water to make it smell fresher. Let the meat dry.

Prepare a pot of boiling water, add some thinly sliced ginger and a bit of white vinegar. Place the pork into the pot to blanch it, which will remove any remaining odors.

Rinse the pork once more and let it dry.

Use a sharp tool to prick the surface of the skin several times. Then, brush a mixture of white vinegar and salt on the skin of the pork.

For extra flavor, you can marinate the meat with spices such as five-spice powder, garlic powder, onion powder, ground pepper, chili powder, seasoning powder, and salt. If you don't have garlic or onion powder, you can crush fresh garlic and onion, then squeeze out the juice to marinate the pork. Be careful not to marinate the skin, as it should remain clean and dry without any spices.

Wrap the meat with aluminum foil, leaving the skin exposed.

Drying the Skin Before Roasting

Before roasting, you can dry the skin by placing it under the sun or in the fridge for at least 6 hours, or use a hairdryer to dry the skin.

Roasting the Pork

Place the pork in an air fryer with the skin facing up, and the meat wrapped in aluminum foil. Roast the pork for the first time at 200-230°C (depending on your air fryer) for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the pork and take off the aluminum foil.

Roast it for a second round at 180-200°C for 10 minutes. Once the skin crisps up evenly and turns golden, it’s ready to be removed and sliced into bite-sized pieces. If the skin isn’t as crispy as you want, you can increase the temperature to over 200°C and roast for an additional 5-10 minutes.