Siu Yuk

Ingredients

• 1.2kg slab pork belly, skin on, ribs removed
• 2 tbsp coarse sea salt, for the skin
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp white rice vinegar
• 500g coarse rock salt, for the crust
• Yellow mustard and caster sugar, to serve

Before you cook

• Ask the butcher for an even, rectangular slab of belly with the skin left whole and unscored.
• Bring a wide pan of water to the boil, lower the belly in skin side up for 4 minutes, then lift it out and pat it completely dry.
• Prick the skin all over with a clean metal skewer or a meat needler, going through the skin but not into the fat, until the whole surface is covered in tiny holes.
• Mix the fine salt, five-spice, sugar and white pepper, then rub it into the meat side and the cut edges only, keeping it well away from the skin.
• Rub the Shaoxing wine into the meat side as well.
• Wipe the skin with the rice vinegar, then set the belly skin side up on a rack over a tray and refrigerate uncovered for at least 12 hours, until the skin feels dry and papery like parchment.

Steps

1. Take the pork out of the fridge and heat the oven to 180C fan.
2. Line a small roasting tin with foil, folding the foil up around the sides of the belly to make a snug tray that leaves the skin exposed.
3. Pat the skin dry one more time with kitchen paper.
4. Tip the rock salt over the skin and press it into an even layer about 1cm thick, right to the edges.
5. Roast for 80 minutes.
6. Lift the tin out and crack off the salt crust in sheets, brushing away every last grain with a pastry brush.
7. Turn the oven up to its highest setting, around 240C.
8. Return the pork to the top of the oven and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, until the skin has puffed into golden blisters across the whole surface.
9. Rest the pork on a board for 15 minutes.
10. Turn the slab skin side down and cut it into 2cm strips with a heavy cleaver, then cut across into bite-sized pieces.
11. Serve with a small dish of yellow mustard and a pinch of sugar alongside.