Delicious Siew Yoke I (Chinese Roast Pork)

• 1 kg Pork Belly with skin
• (Washed and pat very dry. Poke through the skin all over. Make shallow cuts 1 cm deep and 1 1/2 cm apart on the meat side across the length of the meat)
• 1 TBsp salt for rubbing on pork skin
• 2 TBsp white vinegar for brushing pork skin at 20 mins into roasting

Marinate (in a bowl): 

• 1 cube fermented red bean curd (nam yue)
• 1/2 TBsp Chinese 5-spice powder (Ng Heong Fun)
• 1/2 TBsp white pepper
• 1/2 TBsp salt
• 1/2 TBsp sugar
• 1 TBsp rice wine

1. Rub marinate all over meat side of pork belly for a few minutes.
2. Place pork belly meat side down in a rectangular baking tray.
3. Rub 1 TBsp salt all over the skin.
4. Place pork belly meat (uncovered) in refrigerator preferably overnight. The air in the fridge will dry the skin. Remove the meat 1 hr before roasting.
5. To roast: 

• Preheat oven to 200 degree C. Have both the upper & lower heating elements & fan in the oven ON.

• Place pork belly on a rack in the middle of the oven. Put a pan covered with aluminium foil below for the dripping fat during roasting.

• Roast for 20 mins. Then change oven setting to upper heating element (grill function or broil function) on. Brush white vinegar onto the skin. This can fasten the cooking process on the pork skin and make it light and crunchy.

• Use some paper kitchen towels to dab the pork skin when you see liquid fat bubbles building up. This will expose the skin and make it more crispy.

• Monitor the roasting by looking at the progress of the skin in getting crispy. 

• The pork skin needs to get charred and burnt as this will mean the skin has become really crispy all the way through. When the skin is charred, it means it has cooked all the way through and has become dry, crispy & crunchy. The charred bits can easily be scraped off with a knife that has serrated edge.

• When the homemade Siew Yoke is ready, let it rest about 15 mins. Then CHOP into bite size pieces. Then it's ready to be served.