Slow-Roast Pork Belly

Ingredients

• 1.8 kg pork belly, skin scored
• 2 tbsp flaky sea salt
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds, crushed
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 onions, thickly sliced
• 300 ml dry cider
• 2 bramley apples, quartered

Method

1. Dry the skin

   Pat the skin completely dry, rub it hard with salt and leave uncovered in the fridge overnight if you can. Moisture in the skin is the single reason crackling fails.

   1 h

2. Season the meat

   Rub the fennel and garlic into the underside and the cut edges only — keep them off the skin, where they would burn.

3. Set up the tin

   Sit the belly skin-side up on the onions and apples, pour the cider into the tin around it, and make sure no liquid touches the skin.

4. Low and slow

   Roast at 150°C until the meat is completely yielding. It should be soft enough to press a spoon through.

   3 h 30 min

5. Blast for crackling

   Turn the oven up to 240°C and roast until the skin puffs and blisters right across. Watch it — it goes from perfect to burnt in about three minutes.

   25 min

6. Rest and serve

   Rest for fifteen minutes, then cut with a serrated knife. Skim the tin juices and serve them alongside with the collapsed apple.

   15 min