Adventures in cooking Chinese roast pork

I have a Nu-Wave Pro portable oven, a hand-me-down from my mom.  She didn't have a need for it anymore and I was curious if I could make Chinese roast pork in it.  My mom had tried before, but it didn't turn out as expected...the skin wasn't crispy enough.  This past weekend, I gave it a shot, especially after finding what looked to be a good recipe (Christine's Recipes) on the internet that used a similar type of oven.  Using the Nu-Wave versus a regular oven seemed like it would help cut down on the clean-up, plus save energy and not heat up the house during the summer.

I purchased a slab of fresh pork belly (skin-on) from Koreana Plaza.  The fat and meat layers weren't perfectly proportioned, but since this was my first attempt at roast pork, it would be good enough.

not the most perfect piece but it worked

I blanched the pork belly in a pot of gently boiling water for about 10 minutes, then placed it on a plate to cool down.  I dried the pork with a paper towel, then proceeded to poke holes in the skin using a bamboo skewer.  It would be faster if you had a "skin poker" tool. (a picture of it can be seen in Nasi Lemak Lover's blog)  I also scored the bottom meat layer in order for it to soak up the spice mixture.

not too long to poke as it was a small piece

scoring the meat layer underneath

I changed the spice mixture to the following:  4 tsp sea salt, 2 tsp palm sugar, 1/2 tsp five-spice powder.  I've had tasty results using palm sugar in other recipes I've cooked, such as curry, so I thought it would be good here too.

I rubbed rice wine all over the pork belly, applied the spice mixture to the sides and bottom (not on the skin, as directed by Christine), then wrapped it in foil, exposing the top.  It sat overnight in the refrigerator to marinate as well as dry out the skin.

pork belly the next evening

The next evening, the skin was pretty dry.  I poked it again with the bamboo skewer (much harder this time as the skin was cold and hard compared to just-boiled) and put it in the Nu-Wave oven, set on the highest temperature (around 350 degrees).

baking in the Nu-Wave

Unfortunately, since that was as high as the Nu-Wave could go, and Christine's recipe called for 390 degrees F baking and 430 degrees F for crisping the skin, around the end of bake time, I had to do something to get the skin crispier.  I ended up jury-rigging a higher platform to bring the skin closer to the heating element at the top, using inverted small glass bowls.

raising the pork belly closer to the heating element

It helped to blister the skin more, but now that I am more familiar with the Nu-Wave oven, I think I will try a different approach next time.  I also may try a different method to poking the skin.

The end product was very tasty, almost restaurant-quality, except for the skin, which certainly was crispy, but not "flaky" enough if you know what I mean.  The skin texture didn't stop us from inhaling the meat!
 

voila!

looks like restaurant-quality!

Since I placed a sheet of foil on the bottom of the Nu-Wave oven, clean-up was a breeze.  I just had to wash the clear plastic dome and the rack.

Not too bad for a first timer, but I endeavor to improve on the skin next time!

***

Don't wait for Facebook or Twitter to let you know of new entries...sign up for blog updates direct to your inbox here!

If you're not already hooked up, check out my travel blog "Where in the world is Kat Kong?"!  You can sign up for blog updates direct to your inbox here!

If you came here from a Facebook or Twitter link, thanks for liking or retweeting!