Slow-Cooked Pork Belly

The fat renders out in the long, slow cooking, leaving behind moist, flavourful meat and crisp crackling. From Olive Magazine. Serve with roasted potatoes and a huge, tossed, green salad with a vinaigrette dressing for a delicious meal. Prep time is about 30 minutes and whatever amount of time you marinate.

• Ready In: 3 hrs 45 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 8  bay leaves
• 2  thumb-sized pieces gingerroot
• 15  garlic cloves
• 150  ml olive oil
• 3  kg  pork belly, ask your butcher to score it for you (complete with skin and bones)

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients (apart from the pork) in either a food processor or a pestle and mortar, then rub them well into the skin of the pork belly . Leave it somewhere cool to marinate for as long as you can bear (between 1 hour and 2 days).
2. Preheat your oven to 110C/fan 90C/gas 1/4 or as low as it will go. Roast the pork for 3 hours. Check to make sure it's not pink. If it is, give it a bit longer.
3. Lastly, for your Maillard reaction, whack the oven up to 240C/fan 220C/gas 9 or as high as it will go and roast for 10-15 minutes or until crisp.
4. Let the belly rest but not for more than 10 minutes and serve.