Smoked pork belly glazed with honey and soy

Ingredients

• 1.8 kg fresh pork belly with rind, in one piece
• 18 g fine salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
• 4 cloves fresh garlic
• 90 g liquid wildflower honey
• 90 ml Japanese salted soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 3 pieces yellow onions
• 250 ml water
• 0.5 bunches fresh chives

Method

1. Take the pork belly out of the refrigerator and pat it very dry. Score the rind with a knife without cutting deeply into the meat: the cuts should open the fat, not slice into the flesh. Mix the salt, pepper, and paprika, then rub it over the entire surface, working it into the cuts.
2. Let the meat rest at room temperature for about three-quarters of an hour, until the seasoning begins to dissolve on the surface. The meat should become slightly damp and glossy: this shows that the salt is adhering properly.
3. Prepare the smoker or a barbecue for indirect cooking over gentle heat, around one hundred and twenty degrees. Use moderate fruitwood or beech smoke: it should smell pleasant and remain blue, never thick or acrid.
4. Place the pork belly rind-side up, away from the direct coals. Close the smoker and smoke slowly until the surface is mahogany brown, dry to the touch, and the edges begin to pull back. The cooking should be steady, with no flames, accompanied by a gentle sizzle as the fat renders.
5. During the first cooking stage, thinly slice the onions and place them in an ovenproof dish with the water. Once the pork belly is well smoked, set it on the bed of onions, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and continue cooking in an oven at one hundred and fifty degrees until a knife slides almost effortlessly into the meat.
6. Prepare the glaze: grate the garlic, then warm it gently with the honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and neutral oil. Let it simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and fall in a short ribbon.
7. Uncover the pork belly. The meat should be yielding, the fat translucent, and the juices in the bottom of the dish should smell of smoke, confit onion, and roasted meat. Brush the surface generously with the glaze, then return it to the oven uncovered at higher heat, around two hundred degrees.
8. Glaze in successive passes: add another thin layer as soon as the previous one turns glossy and slightly sticky. Watch closely: the surface should lacquer and darken, but must not blacken. Stop when the edges are caramelized and the rind has taken on an amber-brown sheen.
9. Let the pork belly rest out of the oven under a loosely placed sheet of aluminum foil. Resting allows the juices to redistribute and the glaze to set. The meat should remain hot, but should no longer bubble when sliced.
10. Slice with a long, sharp knife, following the score marks in the rind. Serve with the confit onions from the dish, a little defatted juice, and a sprinkling of finely snipped chives for freshness.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

830.7 kcal

Protein

63.72 g

Carbohydrate

28.51 g

Fat

51.52 g

Fibre

2.27 g

Calcium

59.24 mg

Iron

3.67 mg

Magnesium

87.75 mg