Serves: 4 as a starter
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours (+ additional 30 mins if you're roasting whole)
 
Ingredients:

• 1kg boneless pork belly
• 1 cup water
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• 1/3 cup Hoisin Sauce
• 1/3 cup Tamari or Light Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (use white wine vinegar instead)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
• ½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoons Chinese five spice
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted

 
Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Put the pork belly into a baking dish, pour the water around the meat then rub with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Roast for 30 minutes then cover with foil, reduce the heat to 160°C and roast for a further 2 hours. Remove from the oven. Discard the cooking liquid and leave to cool completely. This step can be done the night before you are going to serve this dish and the pork cooled in the fridge.

Pork Belly Whole Roast option

Once pork has cooled return to an oven-proof dish (one that is not too large). Mix together the sticky sauceas per directions above, then pour the sauce over the pork (you can either coat the skin or leave free of the sauce to crackle, either way is delicious!) Cover with tin foil and cook at 180°C for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil from the dish after 20 minutes if desired for a bit of extra caramelisation. Slice the pork into strips and serve with rice or noodles and seasonal vegetables. 

Pork Belly Bites option
 
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C fan bake. Once cool, slice into bite sized pieces. Mix the Hoisin sauce, Tamari, vinegar, sugar, garlic, ginger, black pepper and five spice in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Brush or spoon the glaze over the pork bites, leaving the skin without. Arrange snugly in a baking dish lined with baking paper and roast for 15 minutes before turning up the heat and grilling the bites so that the skin goes crisp and crunchy.
 
Serve scattered with the spring onion and sesame seeds.