Have you ever been to a Chinese restaurant or walking around Chinatown and seen those windows with the roast ducks and other meats hanging in them? We get so excited!
The roast duck is my all time favorite but the roast pork is a close second. There are few things more satisfying than hearing that crunch as you bite into a piece of the perfectly crispy skin.
Many cultures have some form of this delicacy. The Chinese, of course, but I know the Filipinos also make a version as do the Vietnamese. I have even seen some of my favorite YouTubers travel to South American countries and rave about theirs too.
At more than $10 a pound, it’s not a very economical meal for us. The pork belly is readily available raw in most Asian markets and I would buy it to make braised or steamed dishes. One day I wondered how hard it would be to make our own roast pork at home. Would I be able to get the crispy skin like the one hanging in the window?
I decided to find out. We tried a few different recipes and techniques until I finally found out what worked the best for us. With a little work and time, we can get the crispy skin we love, along with juicy, succulent meat, all for about a third of the cost of buying it ready made.
I even freeze portions then heat up in the microwave and put the skin in the toaster oven on broil or even just toast it, to get it crispy again. Great for ramen nights here!