Thirty minutes! That’s all the time it takes to prepare Salt and Pepper Pork Belly. A deliciously satisfying dish with NO-FUSS seasoning!
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It is an excellent dish when you cannot be bothered with measuring ingredients — you can just wing them.
A handful of ingredients, minimal seasoning, and effort, and you get a flavor-packed meat dish that you won’t be able to stop eating.
Do you want it to be salty? Add more salt. You want it to be hot? Go crazy on the chili. 🙂
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Ingredients
- Pork belly – make sure you remove the skin when preparing for this salt and pepper pork belly recipe.
- Garlic – minced, grated, or sliced thinly; it depends on what you prefer. The critical thing is not to burn it when cooking.
- Chili – red chili pepper, sliced into thin rounds. The amount you use will vary depending on how spicy the chili is.
For reference, I used a mild chili in this recipe, and I used at least half of it for a pound of pork belly.
- Salt and pepper – I strongly suggest using sea salt, and if you have freshly-ground black pepper, that’s even better.
- Spring onions – although you only need this for garnish, it completes the dish’s overall flavor, so try not to skip it.
Preparation
Start preparing by slicing the pork into a quarter of an inch thick and about an inch wide.
Place the wok over high heat.
Once the wok is hot enough, add the pork belly slices — spread them around the wok (photo 1).
Cook for about twenty minutes, mixing often.
When the pork belly slices are almost cooked, turn down the heat to medium-high.
Add the minced garlic (photo 2).
Cook for about a minute or until the garlic becomes fragrant.
Season with salt, pepper, and chili (photo 3).
Cook for about two minutes — keep mixing the entire time.
Turn the heat off.
Use a spider strainer to scoop the pork and transfer them into plates (photo 4).
Garnish your salt and pepper belly slices with chopped spring onions and serve.
Helpful tips
- Try to slice the pork into identical sizes. It helps in cooking them all at the same time and not burning some of the smaller pieces.
- No need to use oil. As you can see, the pork belly slices, once cooked, will produce more than enough oil.
- Make sure you keep mixing after adding the garlic and the chili — it helps ensure that they will not be burned.
- Use a spider strainer to drain the oil from the pork quickly.
Alternatively, you can place the pork belly slices on some kitchen paper to remove excess oil before serving.
Recipe variation
- Chili flakes. If you cannot find any fresh ones, chili flakes or dried chili are great alternatives.
FAQs
Absolutely.
A regular skillet, a frying pan, or even a Dutch oven will work out just as great. The critical thing is to pay attention to the heat.
I always serve it with steamed white rice, but occasionally, it’s with garlic fried rice when I have day-old rice.
See how easy it is? Give this easy pork belly recipe a try one of these days! 🙂
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Salt and Pepper Pork Belly Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork belly (about 500 grams), without skin
- 2 cloves garlic (or 1 large clove), minced
- 1 chili, sliced into thin rounds
- salt and ground black pepper, to season
- spring onions, for garnish
Instructions
- Slice the pork into about a 1/4-inch thick, and 1-inch wide.
- Place the wok over high heat.
- Once the wok is hot enough, add the pork belly slices and spread them evenly on the wok.
- Cook for about 20 minutes — mix often.
- Adjust the heat to medium-high once the pork belly slices are almost cooked.
- Add the minced garlic.
- Cook for about a minute or until the garlic becomes fragrant.
- Add the salt, pepper, and chili.
- Cook for about 2 minutes — keep mixing the entire time.
- Turn the heat off.
- Use a spider strainer to scoop the pork and transfer them into plates.
- Garnish your salt and pepper belly slices with chopped spring onions (and more sea salt, if desired) and serve.
Notes
- Cook’s Tip #1: Slice the pork into identical sizes. It helps in cooking them all at the same time and not burning some of the tinier pieces.
- Cook’s Tip #2: Skip the oil. As you can see, the pork belly slices, once cooked, will produce more than enough oil.
- Cook’s Tip #3: Remember to keep mixing after adding the garlic and the chili — it helps ensure that they will be cooked properly, not burned.
- Cook’s Tip #4: Use a spider strainer to drain the oil from the pork quickly. Alternatively, you can place the pork belly slices on some kitchen paper to remove excess fat before serving.
- NOTE: This post was initially published in Jan 2017. The ingredients list, recipe instructions, and new images have now been updated.
Mr Scot Lester says
Hi, the method says pour out oil then add onions, garlic etc, but the video shows not taking oil out and adding more?
Neriz says
Hej Scot,
Thanks for your comment.
Extra oil should be pour out of the pan, there should still be some left for the garlic, onions, etc.
On the other hand, if there is rarely any oil left (like in the video), you should add a bit of it. (FULL DISCLOSURE: In the video, I had to add oil because I mistakenly pour out all of it – Ugh)
Really appreciate you pointing it out – thank you 🙂