Roasted Pork with Perfect Crackling (Low Carb and Atkins Diet) | dietplan-101.com
This recipe is suitable for those on Atkins Diet and Low Carb Diet. This is one of the simplest ways to make the perfect pork crackling. You can cook it right away while most of the recipes out there required drying time or leave the pork in the fridge to dry out the skin.
The secrets to achieving perfect crackling are dry pork skin and high heat. The trick is using vinegar and lots of coarse salt to draw out moisture from the pork skin.
You want the meat to be moist and juicy while the skin is super crispy and crackling. Salt will dry out the skin for crackling. Covering the meat with aluminum foil during the first part of roasting will keep the meat juicy.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. (900 g) pork belly (with skin )
- 1 1/2 cup coarse salt
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 390°F/200°C.
- Bring a pot of water to the boil and blanch the pork in boiling water for 10 minutes.
- Drain and rinse the pork under running water to stop the cooking process.
- Pat skin dry and pierce pork skin with a fork, skewers, or meat tenderizer.
- Season meat sides and bottom (EXCEPT skin) with ground pepper.
- Wrap the sides of the meat with aluminum foil (skin side up).
- Brush the pork skin with vinegar, then cover the skin side completely with a generous amount of coarse salt.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
- Remove aluminum foil and salt from the skin.
- Second Roasting: Bake for another 30 minutes at 480°F/250°C to brown and turn the skin to crispy and crackling. You will know it is ready when the skin of the pork all bubbled up with skin blistering all over and turning golden brown.
(Tips: Turn your oven to the highest setting during the second part of roasting. Scrape off the charred bits with a knife if the skin is burnt. You can season the pork with different spices and herbs.)
