‘Beautiful and succulent… at home, or out bush!’
For that seasoned smack of salt beyond the big smoke, or a cracking, crispy charred belly that attacks grumbling tummies right around the camp table, you’ve pigged the right hog – er, we mean blog.
In this episode, Cam pops the top of syrup bottles, spice pots, and sauce jars to make the thick, sticky, finger-licking baste for a pork belly plate that slays the second it hits the Cobb grates.
Catch Cam and his succulent, subtly sweet, almighty pork of the outdoors on our YouTube channel from 6pm – plus more, every Sunday.
Cam’s Chinese Roasted Red Pork Belly with Spring Onions.
Ingredients:
Pork:
1-1.5kg of pork belly
¼ cup of white sugar
1tbs of soy sauce
1tbs of hoisin sauce
2tbs of honey
2tsp of salt
¼tsp of five-spice
¼tsp of pepper
2tsp of golden syrup
1/8 tsp of red food colouring
2tsp of garlic
To Serve:
Spring onion
Cam’s Kit:
Cam’s ingredients
Method:
1. Prepare the Marinade (00:31)
Cam suggests preparing the marinade at home before heading outdoors to avoid bringing along all the packets, bottles, and jars.
Combine all ingredients in a shallow bowl or pan. Be liberal with the salt – this will play a role in cooking the skin to its ideal crispy consistency.
Place the marinade aside to…marinate? Is that too meta?
Just place it aside.
Combine all ingredients in a shallow bowl or pan.
Combine all ingredients in a shallow bowl or pan.
2. Score the Pork (02:32)
No, put down the red pen – we’re not scoring this belly out of ten.
Remove the pork from its packaging. You may notice it already marked, but take a sharp knife and incise the opposite way to create a cross-hatch effect.
Place the pork belly in the marinade, coating both sides.
Score the pork belly.
Place the pork belly in the marinade.
Marinate both sides of the pork belly.
3. Marinate (03:24)
Ideally, Cam would allow at least 8 hours for the pork to infuse with the sugars, spices, and salts. For this cook, he quickens the process by vacuum sealing. A vacuum sealer draws the air out and pulls the marinade further into the meat, also prolonging the life of the pork itself.
Cut your vacuum bag to size, seal one end, and slide the pork belly inside. Pour in as much of the marinade as possible too.
When vacuum sealing, try not to extract all of the air – this will cause the marinade to escape into the vacuum sealer too, potentially damaging it.
Place the open end of the vacuum bag into the sealer, and begin to extract the air. Allow for the marinade to seep up to just below the seal before releasing.
Place in your fridge or cooler for 4 hours.
4. Crank the Heat (06:34)
Light the briquette, and allow 10 minutes for the Cobb to heat.
When it begins to smoke, the grill has reached the ideal temperature to begin cooking the pork.
Light the briquette.
When it begins to smoke, the Cobb has reached the ideal temperature.
5. Cook the Pork (07:10)
Remove the pork from the vacuum bag and place the marinated pork straight onto the hot grill. You’ll notice the vivid red colour has well and truly infused into the meat.
Keep the remaining marinade in the vacuum bag, as this can be added gradually throughout the cook.
Cook for 45 minutes.
Place the marinated pork straight onto the hot grill.
Keep the remaining marinade.
Cook for 45 minutes.
6. Check the Pork (07:52)
At this point, your pork is likely to be a little gelatinous on top. Flip the pork belly to work on that sticky, bitter-sweet charcoal skin.
The flip side of your pork may have blackened in some patches – don’t be concerned, this is simply a result of the sugars in the marinade.
Leave to cook for another half an hour, before flipping one last time.
After 45 minutes, your pork is likely to be a little gelatinous on top.
Flip the pork belly to work on that sticky, bitter-sweet charcoal skin!
Don’t be concerned about the blackened patches. This is a result of the sugars in the marinade.
Leave to cook for another half an hour, before flipping again.
7. Rest (08:52)
After a total cooking time of roughly an hour and a half, remove the pork from the heat and place on a plate to rest.
After a total cooking time of roughly an hour and a half, remove the pork from the heat.
Place your pork on a plate to rest.
8. Serve Up! (09:20)
Chop the spring onions into batons. These are only a garnish, but work well with the pork belly by cutting through the fattiness.
Slice the pork belly and place onto the bed of spring onions – like a red carpet, where the real smoke show of the night is that crispy skin!
Chop the spring onions into batons.
Slice the pork belly.
Place your sliced pork onto the bed of spring onions.
9. The Finished Product (10:13)
Pig-ture perfect, if you ask us.
Cam’s Chinese Roasted Red Pork Belly with Spring Onions sees sauces, spices, and syrups sing through the mild fattiness with vivid reds and a dark, sugary crust.
Pig-ture perfect!
Sauces, spices, and syrups sing through the mild fattiness with vivid reds and a dark, sugary crust!
After 32 years behind the flour-dusted steel benches of commercial kitchens, Cam folds out his flattop tabletop and taps into campfire coals and portable camp stoves. From tender steaks and Turducken slabs, to sides, fries, and festive pies – follow along for easy, speedy, and crowd-pleasing campsite feeds!