12 Different Ways to Cook Pork Belly
Here are 12 Different Ways to Cook Pork Belly, based on how you cut it! Pork belly is the ultimate ingredient for rich, flavorful dishes, and how you prepare it makes all the difference. They’re perfect for a quick weekday lunch or dinner From paper-thin hot-pot sliced pork belly, to cooking with a whole slab, there are so many different recipes to make pork belly shine. Add a buttery, fatty pork belly dish to your dinner tonight with one of these 12 dishes!
Whole Pork Belly Slab
When I have a lot of people coming over, I like to cook a whole pork belly slab. This is a whole piece of pork belly that is first cooked as a one whole piece and then served as thick slices. Slow cooking the pork belly whole locks the natural juices into the meat, while giving the outside a glaze of flavor. It comes out tender and hearty, with that rich fat that melts in your mouth. It’s a meaty bite that goes well with a big bite of white rice.
Bossam Inspired Korean Soy Glazed Pork Belly Wraps
Bossam Inspired Korean Soy Glazed Pork Belly Wraps is one of my favorite meals to make when we have a large group of people coming over. It’s so fun to wrap this savory pork belly with kimchi and sesame beansprout salad. If you can find perilla leaves in your area, I definitely recommend using them to wrap your pork. The skin is cooked until translucent, giving it an almost sticky chewy texture. They’re amazing as leftovers and meal prep as well!
Air Fryer Honey Glazed Pork Belly
If you love Cha Shiu 叉燒 , you’re going to love making this Air Fryer Honey Glazed Pork Belly at home. It has the same caramelized BBQ crust using accessible pantry ingredients. This is my go-to weeknight dinner AND weekday lunchbox recipe. In fact, I made this as part of my husband’s weekly lunchboxes all the time! It’s great to enjoy with rice, noodles – even inside sandwiches!
- 1 lb pork belly, cut into 3 inches lengthwise
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine (optional)
- 1.5 tsp five-spice powder
Hand Chopped Pork Belly
Hand chopping a chunk of fatty pork belly into tiny bits is a labor of love, but it’s the best way to add some fattiness to your soups, sauces, or noodles. These tiny chunks of pork are easy to scoop up in a spoon, giving you that fatty flavor and a little bit of chew in one even bite. It’s just the right amount of chunky!
To hand-chop your pork belly, start cutting at one end so they come out as tiny layered strips with skin, fat, and meat in every little bite. Cutting it like this also makes sure that it cooks faster and absorbs flavor better.
Traditional Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice – 滷肉飯
One of the most classic Taiwanese pork belly dishes is Traditional Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice – 滷肉飯 Lu Rou Fan. The collagen from the pork skin melts into the sauce, making your lips stick together. When you serve it on top of a bowl of rice, every single grain of rice is soaked with the fatty braising sauce.
The key to having a great bowl of Lu Rou Fan is the hand chopped pork belly. There’s simply no other method or machine that can recreate that chunky texture.
- 2 lbs Pork Belly
- 1/2 cup Fried Shallots
- 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
- 1/4 cup Chinese Cooking Wine
- 1/8 cup Dark Soy Sauce
- 3 cups Water
- 2 tbsp Five-Spice Powder
- 2 tbsp Sugar or Rock Sugar
- 5 Hard-Boiled Eggs
Jajangmyeon – Korean Noodles in Black Bean Sauce
Jajangmyeon – Korean Black Bean Noodles is one of my dad’s favorite cravings while going through chemo. It’s a healthy noodle dish packed with tons of vegetables. To make the Jjajangmyeon sauce, I used hand chopped pork belly as a source of fat to stir fry the rest of the vegetables. Between all the crunchy veggies, the pork belly gives a nice chew in your bite.
- 4 servings Noodles
- ½ Onion chopped
- ½ Zucchini chopped
- 1 Potato chopped
- 1 carrot chopped
- ⅓ Daikon chopped
- 1.5 lb Pork Belly sliced, you can skip this for a Vegetarian or Vegan version
- 3 tbsp Oil
- ¼ cup Black Bean Paste
- 1 ½ cup Chicken Stock or Water
- 1 tbsp Corn Starch
- Cucumber garnish
Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae
Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae is another recipe that uses pork belly to add some richness to an otherwise light dish. Soft tofu has a very neutral, delicate flavor. So, this tofu soup uses the fat from hand chopped pork belly to fry anchovies, garlic, and onions to add layers of flavors into your tofu stew. It’s spicy and umami makes it so addicting!
- 1 pack of Soft/Silken Tofu (12 oz)
- ¼ Onion (chopped)
- 1.5 – 2 tbsp of Korean Red Chili Flakes (adjust to your spice tolerance)
- 1.5 tbsp of Soy Sauce
- 3 cloves of Garlic (minced)
- 3 stalks of Green Onion
- 2.5 oz of Pork Belly or Beef (sliced and optional)
- 2 cups of Anochvy or Dashi stock
- 4 Fresh Shiitake Mushroom (sliced)
- One pack of Enoki Mushrooms
- 1 Egg
Dice Cut Pork Belly Bites
One of the most common ways you’ll see pork belly in dishes is cut into Dice Cut Pork Belly Bites. These are usually cut into 1 inch or 2-3 cm squares. Recipe that uses this often has pork belly as the main character, cooking the pork slowly in sauces over time. This way of cutting pork belly gives you that perfect layered bite of skin, fat, and meat.
Instant Pot Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly
What’s a more iconic Pork Belly recipe than the classic Taiwanese braised pork belly? Cooking with an Instant Pot cuts the cooking time in half, and comes out extra tender every single time. This is a great dish to make for weeknight dinners. Toss it all in, and you won’t have to worry about it until you are ready to eat! Mixed with the braising juices, it’s so easy to finish bowls of rice or noodles!
- 2.5 lb Pork Belly
- 4 thin slices of Ginger
- 10 cloves Garlic smashed
- 2 Green Onion
- 1 small Cinamon Stick
- 4 Star Anise
- 5 Red Whole Chili
- ¼ cup Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup Dark Soy Sauce
- 4.5 tbsp Brown Sugar or Rock Sugar
- 3 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine optional
- ¼ cup Water
Zong Zi (粽子)
Zong Zi (粽子) is my family recipe from my great-grandma. This recipe isn’t your typical dinner meal, but they’re actually a pretty easy meal to freeze and enjoy later. These bamboo leaf-wrapped sticky rice is filled with all sorts of fillings, but the most important one inside is a chunk of braised pork belly. This chunk of fatty pork gives this bamboo sticky rice all the meaty flavor. They’re great to making in bulk and easy to reheat.
- 40 Bamboo Leaf
- 800 g Glutinous Rice
- 40 Dry Shiitake Mushroom – Soaked for 1 hour
- 4 shallots sliced
- 0.5 tbsp White Pepper
- 1 tbsp Five-Spice Powder
- ¼ cup Dried Shrimp – soaked based on the above tips
- 0.5 cup Dried Turnip – soaked based on the above tips
Peanuts
- 1 cup of Peanuts washed and soaked
- 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 1 cup Water
Pork Belly
- 1 lb Pork Belly
- 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
- 3.5 tbsp Sugar
- 4 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- ½ cup Chinese Cooking Wine optional
- 2-3 cups Water
- 2 Star Anise
- 5 cloves Garlic smashed
Sticky Pork Belly
This Sticky Pork Belly is the household Taiwanese dish that everyone has had at least once a week. The savory, herbal glaze clings on to the pork belly, perfect for a big bite of rice. Tender, savory, and packed with flavor, sticky pork belly is my favorite childhood recipe, and it will soon be yours too! I also love enjoying this sticky pork belly with steamed buns, which tastes just like Taiwanese Gua Bao (割包).
- 2.5 lb Pork Belly
- 4 thin slices of Ginger
- 10 cloves of Garlic (smashed)
- 2 Green Onion
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn
- 2-3 Bay Leaf
- 3 Star Anise
- 5 Red Whole Chili (optional)
- ½ cup of Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup of Dark Soy Sauce
- ⅛ cup Oyster Sauce
- 4.5 tbsp of Brown Sugar or Rock Sugar
- 3 tbsp of Chinese Cooking Wine (optional)
- 2 cups of Water
Hot Pot Sliced Pork Belly
Hot pot sliced pork belly might be the most convenient cut of pork you might find at Asian supermarkets. This pork belly cut is made for hot pot, sliced paper thin so it fully cooks quickly. Each delicate, fatty slice melts in your mouth. It’s so thin, it stays pretty tender even if overcooked.
They’re not just for hot pot – they’re actually super convenient to use as a quick freezer protein anytime. You don’t even need to defrost them – just throw in however much you need into the pot frozen! I love using them for stir-fry, wrapped around vegetables, and added into instant noodles!
Yaki Udon – Japanese Stir-Fried Udon
If you’re in a rush and throwing something together quickly, or just need a fridge cleaning dish, Yaki Udon is a great recipe to make. Using sliced pork belly also makes cooking your lunch so much faster. You don’t only have to use hot pot sliced pork. In fact, if you have leftover honey glazed pork or Bossam, you can slice them into thinner slices and toss them in instead.
- 2 packs Frozen Udon
- 1/3 cup Hot Pot Sliced Pork Belly Optional chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 Onion sliced
- 1 cup shredded Cabbage
- 1/2 Carrot sliced
- 6 Shiitake Mushroom sliced
Kongnamul-Bulgogi: Korean Spicy Bean Sprout Pork
Kongnamul-Bulgogi: Korean Spicy Bean Sprout Pork is a tasty convenient dish when you don’t know what to have for dinner. The thinly cut pork belly and the bean sprouts both cook super fast – making this an easy speedy dish. The bright spicy-sweet gochujang sauce is perfectly mellowed out by the fattiness of the pork. You’ll be able to finish bowls of rice with just this pork belly recipe.
- 0.5-1 pound frozen hot pot pork belly
- 100 grams bean sprouts
- 2-3 stalks green onions cut into inch-long segments
- 2.5 tbsp Korean Chili Paste
- 1.5 tbsp Korean Red Chili Flakes adjust to your own spice tolerance
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tbsp Sesame Seeds
- Salt and Black Pepper to taste
Sizzling Pork Belly Plate
If you love Pepper Lunch’s sizzling platter lunches, this Sizzling Pork Belly Plate is the pork belly recipe you need. It’s sweet and savory pork and caramelized onions sizzling on a hot metal plate, with sauce drizzled all over. A bite of that crispy rice crust at the bottom with these rich layers of paper-thin pork belly might be the most satisfying bite. This is a quick and easy meal you HAVE to make at home.
- 1 lb of thinly sliced pork belly
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 0.5 tablespoon dashi powder
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
4 Ingredient Hot Pot: Mille Feuille Nabe
Of course, what better way to use hot pot sliced pork than Mille Feuille Nabe. Made with layers of thinly sliced pork and napa cabbage, this Japanese hot pot is super light, yet still rich and umami packed. The thin fatty pork cooks quickly, rendering that buttery pork fat into the dashi broth. It has all the protein and fiber you need for a healthy meal, and all you need is a hot pot dipping sauce to complete this meal.
- 1 pack Hot Pot Sliced Pork Belly
- 1 Napa Cabbage
- 1 pack shimeji mushrooms
- 8-10 cups Dashi or any other broth
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