Fried skinless crispy pork belly

I have been reading up on making crispy crackling and bored with the usual methods of drying the crackling and then roasting then finally grilling. I came across 3 recipes which I'll try in succession.

This method from Chinesefood0805 video uses boiling to get rid of excess oil and smell, and to soften, then frying in its own fat to crisp it up. Although the cooking time is longer, it saves on the prep and marinating time. It is also less greasy and as a bonus, you get a tub of rendered lard! The downside though is first there is no skin, and second, there is no marinate so needs to be eaten with some kind of sauce or salt/pepper.

Ingredients

500g belly pork, preferably skin removed

Method

1. Add pork belly to a pot (lay flat in a single layer) and pour enough water to cover.

2. Add salt and bring to a boil.

3. Skim foam, cover and turn down heat. Cover and simmer for 25 mins.

4. Drain, remove and pat very dry.

5. Warm up a pan on medium low heat. Without adding oil, lay in a single layer and cover. Allow oil to render out. Cover to prevent splatting.

6. Once the oil starts exuding out, flipping frequently to ensure even browning.

7. Chop into bite-size and serve with condiments eg mustard or five-spice salt.

Receipe feedback

- Because I used the belly with skin, the skin turned out be super chewy. So it does have to use skinless pork belly

- The frying was relatively painless because I used a wok with a cover but otherwise there would be a lot of splatter on the stove and surrounding.

- There was a lot of active time - from boiling the pork to then letting it slowly exude oil. Neither activity meant total set and forget, so total active time was about 2 hrs, because it took a lot time to render the fat at low heat. And at the end, it only produced 2 tbsp of lard!

- However the upside is that there is now a stock that can be used to cook soup eg ramen soup, and 2 tbsp of lard for next time.

- Despite frying the belly pork in its own oil, and despite having bigger pieces than the video, the meat came out tough and hard. It was also only mild crispy.