Chinese Style Crispy Roast Pork with Sticky Macadamia Sauce

Chinese Style Crispy Roast Pork with Sticky Macadamia Sauce – Serves 4
Roast Pork Ingredients
1kg pork belly with skin on (if the skin is scored, make sure the cuts do not go through to the meat underneath).
2 teaspoons five spice powder
1 cup table salt
Salad or steamed rice and Asian greens to serve

Sticky Macadamia Sauce Ingredients
1 Tbsp macadamia oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1 cup castor sugar
3/4 cup water
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup dry roasted macadamias, chopped

Equipment
Deep roasting tray and wire rack which sits well above the bottom of the roasting tray. The tray and wire rack must be large enough to hold the pork in a single layer

Method

  1. Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Pre-heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan forced). Half fill the roasting tray with water and set aside. Wash the pork and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Place the pork skin side down on a board.
  2. Rub all the meat sides of the pork with five spice powder.
  3. Place the pork on to the wire rack with the skin side up and the meat side down. Layer salt on top of the pork skin evenly.
  4. The salt should be about 3–5mm and even in thickness on top of the pork skin.
  5. Place wire rack with the pork belly on top of the deep roasting tray so the wire rack and pork is sitting above the water in the roasting tray. Place in oven and roast for 1 hour. During roasting a hard salt crust will form and the pork will shrink away from the hardened salt crust.
  6. After one hour carefully remove the roasting pan and wire rack with the pork belly sitting on it from the oven. Place the wire rack with the pork still on it, onto a board meat side down. Pull off the salt crust and discard.
  7. Use a pastry brush to remove all the loose salt remaining on the skin. Add more water to the roasting pan if necessary and return the wire rack and pork to the top of the roasting tray.
  8. Increase the oven to 240°C (220°C fan forced), and return the roast to the oven and roast for another 40 minutes or until all the skin has bubbled and crackled.
  9. Meanwhile make the sauce. Combine sugar and water. In a small saucepan over high heat, add macadamia oil and onions and cook until soft. Add ginger, ground coriander and chilli and cook for 1–2 minutes. Add sugar and water mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add fish sauce and lime juice and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Place in a small serving bowl and set aside to cool. When cool add the chopped macadamias to the sauce. Prepare the salad or cook the rice and prepare the Asian greens if using.
  10. When the skin has bubbled and crackled, remove pork from oven and leave to rest for 10minutes.
  11. Cut pork and serve immediately with sticky macadamia sauce and salad or rice and steamed Asian greens.