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Home / Cuisine / Chinese / Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly)

Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly)

By: 👩‍🦳 Linda · Published: 🖨 February 4, 2016 · Updated: 💻January 31, 2022 · 🗨 11 Comments

Recipe ▼

Easy to prepare Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly) with a perfectly crisp crackling. Delicious with steamed rice and perfect for any occasion.

A plateful of Roast Pork Belly on green lettuce leaves.

Even though Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly) or siao bak is easily available in Malaysia, it is still one of the most requested meat dish for Chinese New Year. Unlike Char Siu (Chinese Barbecue Pork), I have not seen it being offered at the restaurants here. Hence, the need for us living away from the mother culture, to prepare it at home.

What’s the Secret to a Crispy Siew Yoke?

Fortunately, the preparation is quite simple and only a few ingredients are required. The real challenge with Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly) is getting a perfectly crisp crackling. Years ago, my elder brother who was studying abroad then told me that he found out from someone working at a restaurant a little “secret”. Apparently, rubbing some vinegar on the pork skin will do the trick. I often wondered about this piece of information. Will the Siew Yoke taste sour? I did not want to find out and never really tried it. Who ever listens to their brother anyway, right? 😉

Easy to prepare Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly) with a perfectly crisp crackling. Delicious with steamed rice and perfect for any occasion. | MalaysianChineseKitchen.com #siewyoke #siuyuk #crispyporkbelly

Well, I did it MY WAY. I would leave the meat to dry out uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. The next day I will roast it and finish off the cooking by placing it under the broiler to allow the skin to blister. It worked for me and my Roast Pork Belly turned out really well. I’ve been doing it this way for years.

The Vinegar Treatment

This time out of curiosity, I decided to give the vinegar treatment a try. I actually combined both methods but did not prick the skin as much. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good piece of pork belly (in case it does taste sour), I only added the vinegar just before roasting. I also sprinkled some kosher or coarse salt on the top for extra flavor and oomph!

When it came out of the oven, I was a little apprehensive. The skin did not look as “puffy” (or blistered) as I had expected. There was only one way to find out…

Similar Products Used in Making This Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly)

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.

Aluminum Half Sheet Pan Baking Sheet Set with Stainless Steel Oven Safe Cooling Rack
Winco UT-9 Coiled Spring Heavyweight Stainless Steel Utility Tong, 9-Inch

A plateful of Roast Pork Belly on green lettuce leaves.
Print Pin Rate
5 from 5 votes

Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly)

Easy to prepare Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly) with a perfectly crisp crackling. Delicious with steamed rice and perfect for any occasion.
Author : Linda Ooi
Course : Main Course
Cuisine : Chinese
Keyword : crispy pork belly, siew yoke, siu yuk
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 471kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 2 lb slab pork belly with skin (900g)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp five-spice powder
  • ½ tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tbsp white distilled vinegar
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt / coarse salt

Instructions
 

  • Scrape pork belly skin with knife to remove impurities. Rinse and drain.
  • Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch pork belly in boiling water skin side down for 5 minutes. Flip pork belly and allow it to blanch for another 5 minutes. Remove and pat dry with paper towels.
  • Combine salt, five-spice powder, and pepper in a small bowl.
  • Place pork belly skin side up on a tray. Pierce the skin all over with a fork.
  • Flip the pork belly over. Using a sharp knife cut several lines about ¼ inch deep and 1 inch apart along the length of the pork belly.
  • Pat dry rub evenly over the meat and sides of pork belly.
  • Place a wire rack on a baking tray. Transfer the pork belly skin side up onto the wire rack. Pat dry skin with paper towels. Allow it to dry uncovered overnight in the refrigerator.
  • When ready to roast, brush skin with vinegar. Then sprinkle kosher (coarse) salt over the top.
  • Pour just enough water to cover the base of the tray without wetting the pork belly. Roast in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 50 minutes. Remove from oven.
  • Move oven rack with mittens to the top most level close to the broiler. Return meat to the rack. With the oven door slightly ajar, turn oven to broiler (grill) setting. The pork belly skin will start to blister. Continue to broil (grill) for approximately 5 to 10 minutes or until skin is evenly blistered. Remove when done.
  • Allow roasted pork belly to rest for 10 minutes. Remove charred bits by scrapping with a knife. Cut into bite size pieces.
  • Serve immediately with mustard and sweet chili sauce if desired.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 471kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @MalaysianChineseKitchen or tag #MalaysianChineseKitchen

Easy to prepare Siew Yoke (Roast Pork Belly) with a perfectly crisp crackling. Delicious served with steamed rice and perfect for any occasion or festival. | MalaysianChineseKitchen.com

Perfectly Crispy Crackling

The crackling was perfectly crunchy! I hope you heard that crunch in my video. 😉 No sour taste whatsoever…phew! I guess there are a few ways to achieve that perfect crunch. Choose the method you are most comfortable with and give it a try. I know you’ll love it!

a platter full of delicious Crispy Pork Belly.

>
3.1K shares

Categories: 🗂 Chinese, Chinese New Year, Main Dish, Pork, Video Recipes Tags: 📋 five-spice

About Linda

Linda is a food writer and photographer who hails from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She now lives in Wyoming, USA. Her other blogs are Roti n Rice and Tea Tattler.

Malaysian Chinese Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Haruna says

    December 16, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    5 stars
    Such guilty delight 😎

    Reply
  2. Olivia says

    August 5, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    5 stars
    I used this recipe to make it for one of our college food events and everyone loved it! It was a great way to introduce some food from home to my international friends. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

    Reply
  3. Terence says

    June 17, 2018 at 4:29 am

    5 stars
    Awesome thank you!

    Reply
  4. Vivien Lim says

    January 9, 2019 at 7:46 am

    5 stars
    Love your blog and your amazing recipes.. thanks lots

    Reply
    • Linda says

      February 12, 2019 at 2:02 am

      You are welcome! Thank you for the kind comment.

      Reply
  5. James Richard Bryan says

    January 23, 2020 at 10:43 am

    There seems to be a debate amongst my Malaysian friends about blanching or not. The guys from Ipoh say no. I’m blanching this year, before just too oily, although taste devine. Thais and Vietnamese blanch as well – but don’t roast. They finish off with deep fry. Mine is in the fridge now. Look forward to CNY tomorrow! Jim B.

    Reply
    • Linda says

      January 30, 2020 at 1:09 am

      There are so many ways to prepare this. Blanching makes it easier to pierce the skin. Otherwise, you will need one of those paddles with nails which I have seen people using. The down side to blanching is having to dry it out in the fridge overnight. If not, the skin will not be crispy. I may try not blanching one of these days.

      I am not familiar with the Thai and Vietnamese versions but I do have a quick version on my other blog –> Pan Fried Crispy Pork Belly where I also blanched the pork belly first.

      Happy New Year!

      Reply
  6. Yunika says

    February 20, 2020 at 7:34 am

    Will it be stay crunchy until next day?
    Your recipe looks soooo delicious , actually I have tried it once (2 years ago) , and it turned out sooo great.
    Love from Indonesia-Germany

    Reply
    • Linda says

      April 16, 2020 at 10:58 am

      Most likely not since you will most likely keep it in the refrigerator. You can always heat it up in the oven but even so it will not be as crunchy. Glad to hear you are reading from Germany.

      Reply
  7. Judith says

    June 7, 2020 at 7:54 am

    5 stars
    Thank you for taking time to make all these videos and so generously sharing them! Your yummy recipes are amazingly simple to follow and use ingredients which are already in the pantry! I am so impressed and have shared them with my sister in Germany and a few of my friends here in Melbourne!

    Reply
    • Linda says

      July 10, 2020 at 5:55 pm

      You are welcome and thank you for sharing my website with your friends. 🙂

      Reply

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