The best part of Cantonese Roast Pork aka Siu Yuk is the crackling. Kevin would probably just eat that part if he could. But what about the rest of it? Would it be possible to make the perfect Cantonese roast pork in the sous vide? Would the sous vide give the pork belly the right balance of tender meat, rendered fat, and crispy pork skin?
For the crispy skin, we used a meat tenderizer and put probably a million holes in the skin… the first time we did it we used a skewer and did it one hole at a time… what a noob move. This time we had this little apparatus which really helped.
One of the common questions we get is what can we use to replace rose wine. We didn’t realize it was that difficult to buy rose wine. There’s no exact replacement for it but you can use regular Shaoxing wine or dry sherry to replace it. The rose wine does impart a good flavor so if you ever see a bottle that looks like this at the Chinese supermarket, buy it.
We sous vide it at 155F (68C)/12h. The skin came out nice, and the flavor is good however, the meat was not as tender as I wanted. The results were comparable to the store bought versions, but with the wait time, I want it to be better. Perhaps it was because we wrapped the meat when we put it in the oven? Or need to work on the time and temp, or just the cut we have … I’m happy with the results, however, there’s still room for improvement – we’ll get on that and report back!
Sous Vide Crispy Roast Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 2 lb Pork Belly
- 2 tsp Five Spice Powder
- Generous amount of Salt
- 2 tsp Rose Wine
- ½ tsp White Pepper
- 2 tsp White Vinegar
Instructions
- Set water bath to 155F (68C).
- With the pork skin side down, generously salt and rub in 5 spice powder and white pepper onto the meat side.
- Place into bag, add 2 teaspoons of rose wine, and seal.
- Sous vide for 12 hours at 155F (68C).
- Once the time is up, remove the bag from the sous vide and place it into an ice bath.
- Remove pork from the bag, and place onto a chop board.
- Pat the skin dry. Using the meat tenderizer, puncture the skin all over.
- Wipe dry again, then brush the skin side with vinegar.
- Add a generous layer of salt on the skin.
- Wrap the meat portion of the pork belly with foil, leaving the skin exposed.
- Place onto a baking sheet and into the fridge to air dry overnight without covering.
- When ready to finish, heat the oven as high as it will go or to broil.
- Wipe off any excess salt. Once again, puncture holes using the meat tenderizer all over the skin.Wipe the skin very dry before placing into the oven.
- Once the skin has bubbled all over and turned golden brown it’s ready to remove from the oven. Watch carefully as the skin can burn fairly quickly, especially if using broil.
- Set aside to cool completely, chop, and serve.
