How to Cook Moo Grob - หมูกรอบ | Recipe for Making Thai Crispy Deep-fried Pork Belly | Thai Food Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why is my crispy pork belly not crispy? ›

The skin wasn't dry enough. Make sure to pat the pork completely dry before rubbing in the salt and oil as excess moisture will stop it from crisping up. It's important to score the skin if you want it really crisp. You'll need a sharp knife for this, or ask your butcher to do it for you.

The boiling creates microbubbles of steam in the fat and skin. Later at the frying step this makes the skin crispy and the fat very tender.

Have a splatter screen handy to protect from oil splatters.To prevent wild splatters, dry the pork belly well. I was taught years ago to continuously sprinkle cold water in the sizzling hot oil while the meat is frying to promote crackling.

Heat about 4 inches of oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Fry pork belly squares in batches until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 230°C, 210°C fan or Gas Mark 8. Put the joint in a roasting tin on the top shelf for 20 minutes. This sudden blast of heat is the key to crispy crackling. Reduce the temperature to 180-190°C, 160-170°C fan or Gas Mark 4-5 and follow the cooking times below to ensure the joint is cooked through.

There are times when pork needs to be boiled before frying. Boiling makes it tender and gives is a more crisp texture when fried later on. This is true to dishes such as lechon kawali and crispy pata. Both these crispy pork dishes needed to be boiled first and then deep fried to attain that nice texture.

No, you do not. A pork chop can be safely cooked by only frying it. That doesn't mean that if you fry a pork chop it's guaranteed to be safe. You can use a meat thermometer to see if the inside has reached 63 (or whatever recommend temperature you're aiming for), and don't take it out of the pan until it does.

Break down meat fibers without tearing them apart with this handy Avanti Pork Belly Skin Crisping Tool & Meat Tenderiser. With its stainless steel prongs, this practical tool will pound and pierce pork cutlets to help marinades permeate and tenderise your meat. The more holes, the crispier the skin becomes.

Just poke through the skin, not into the meat. I poked at least 200 holes. It goes pretty quickly. This will allow fat to bubble out and fry the skin from the top.

Preparing pork belly

Start the day before you want to serve your pork. If you have a Chinese hole puncher or pork skin pricker, you can use that to puncture holes all over the pork skin. Alternatively, you could use toothpicks to poke as many holes as possible into the skin of the pork belly.

Why put baking soda on pork belly? ›

It is a fact of life that dry skin crisps better than moist skin. Scotese's trick to crispy pork belly is to rub equal parts baking soda and salt into the skin—the combo of baking soda and salt will draw out moisture and set you up for success.

Pork belly needs a combination of slow, gentle heat to tenderise the meat, plus a shorter blast at a higher heat to crisp up the skin. Cook at 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for 2 hrs 15 mins, then turn up the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for a further 35 minutes to crisp the crackling.

This can be olive oil, yellow mustard, or a spray oil like duck fat. For pork butt I usually go with mustard. It doesn't add any flavor to the finished product, but I like the way it holds the rub and the color it gives to the exterior early in the cook.

If the heat is too high, the skin will get rock hard, along with the meat. That's why we use medium heat when we fry. And don't forget to dry the pork as much as possible first. The drier it is, the crispier the skin.

You can slow cook it in a slow cooker or oven at a low temperature for several hours until it's fully cooked and tender. This will help break down the tough connective tissues and collagen in the meat, resulting in a succulent and tender pork belly.

SALT, SALt and more salt

Ensure the rind is as dry as possible. The first thing you want to do is pat down your roast with paper towel, to get it as dry as possible. If possible, leave uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry out even further. This will get you the crackle you seek.

Why is my pork belly lechon not crispy? If your pork belly lechon is not crispy, then you may not have used enough salt when seasoning. Alternatively, you may have not coated the skin evenly with the salt.