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Oven Roasted Crispy Pork Belly

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Beef up your bacon

Pig out on pork belly with these tasty cooking suggestions

by SCOTT JONES

Canada has a long-standing love affair with bacon. Unfortunately, bacon’s equally delicious “parent” cut, pork belly, remains largely overlooked by home cooks. But here’s a tasty news flash: It’s easy to bring pork belly’s versatility, value and flavour superpowers to your kitchen.

Hailing from the underside of the hog, this princely piece of porcine perfection consists mainly of silky fat wrapped around luscious streaks of meat. “The natural richness of pork belly allows you to eat high on the hog at a relatively low cost,” says Costco member and cookbook author Andrea Nguyen.

For centuries, pork belly has been an essential staple in many global cuisines. While specific seasonings vary, cooking methods transcend borders: grilling, roasting, braising and deep-frying.

One of the easiest ways to prepare pork belly is to score the fat side and slow-roast it in the oven (see recipes). Scoring allows some of the fat to render while keeping the meat tender and juicy. It can also be cooked on a charcoal or gas grill using indirect heat. Nguyen air-dries the scored and seasoned pork belly in the refrigerator for a day or two to unlock even more avour and texture.

Need more inspiration? Add cooked slices of pork belly to a charcuterie board or to top burgers or sandwiches; stir diced pieces into mac ’n’ cheese or pasta. “There are so many simple ways to use pork belly,” explains Nguyen. “My only problem is overindulging!”


Laura Langston lives and writes on an island in the Pacific Northwest.


Costco Connection: Whole or sliced pork belly is available in the Costco meat department. Groceries are available for delivery through Costco Grocery at Costco.ca.


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