Apple Cider-Braised Pork Belly

This recipe is a simple and really delicious way to experiment with pork belly. Take advantage of an affordable hunk of meat that soaks up whatever flavors you throw at it. When your confidence is up, play around with the flavors that sound best to you. (Then report back to us with your tasty successes!)

cooking information

• Yield: About 8-10 Entrée Portions
• Prep Time: 10 Minutes
• Cooking Time: 6 Hours

all ingredients

• 2 Slabs of Pork Belly
• 3 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 Cup Honey
• 4 Serrano Chiles
• 6 Fresh Sage Leaves
• 1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
• Salt/ Pepper

recipe instruction

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. To a large saute pan, add your apple cider vinegar, honey, fresh sage leaves, salt, and chiles that have been sliced in half lengthwise with the seeds intact. Turn to medium-high heat.

3. Place your pork belly in a roasting pan. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

4. Once the apple cider concoction has been brought to a boil and the honey and salt have disintegrated, pour over your pork belly.

5. Cover the roasting pan with foil and place in the oven. Let cook 6 hours. (Halfway through, open and flip your meat.)

6. After 6 hours remove from the oven and let cool.

7. When it has cooled down, slice (see last tip below) and serve on a pretzel roll with Red Onion-Apple Slaw.

cooking tips

• If you like things spicier, add more chiles. With just the 4 called for above, you barely experience the heat.
• This is a dish that can be made ahead of time and then just reheated in the same roasting pan before service.
• Pork belly is bacon before it’s been sliced so it’s a very fatty piece of meat. After several hours of cooking, however, the fat becomes full of flavor and smooth enough to eat. I do end up removing a lot of the fat before serving, nonetheless. Literally, with my hands, I will separate the meat from the fat and then shred the meat with my fingers.