Ingredients
- 4 lb pork belly
- Olive oil
- Dry rub with low sugar
- Corn tortillas
- Flour tortillas
- Additional topping options
- Shredded cabbage for crunch
- Fresh salsa
- Mexican cojita cheese crumbles
- Diced onions
- Cilantro
- Limes
- Tomatoes
Steps
Remove pork belly from packaging and rinse with cold tap water. Pat dry and set on a cookie sheet.
Slice top side of skin into 1.5 to 2 in squares just deep enough to get to the fat layer.
Rub entire belly with olive oil.
Cover entire belly with dry rub. (use a low sugar rub to avoid burning) I prefer a mixture of blacking seasoning and light dashes of Slap Yo Mamas.
Cook @325 for 3.5 hours. Then last 20 minutes broil on low to get a crispy layer.
Bake for 3.5 hours on a stainless steel rack inset in a cookie sheet. This ensures the belly is above the drippings and helps get the entire surface roasted evenly. The pork belly is done after the entire belly is a consistent color and will be soft if you probe it with a wooden skewer or fork. The meat should tear from the edge fairly easy. Last 20- 30minutes turn on your broiler on low to turn on the top side heating element. This will crispy the top even more but becareful not to let it burn.
The risk of over cooking is lower since it is a high fat content cut.
Once the belly is pulled from oven slice 1 inch slices the length of the belly if you are going to serve immediately or let cool on rack on counter and put away in fridge without slicing. Either way you choose the next step is the same. Once sliced in strips cut slices into chunks.
Get a pan hot med to high heat preferably a cast iron pan and put chunks in. As the cold fat starts to soften break up with the spoon into shreds as big as you would like. If serving straight out the oven break up the chunks into shreds. You are going to quickly sear the shreds as crispy as you would prefer.
Once meat is to your liking remove meat to serving dish. Fry your corn tortillas in the same pan the belly was cooked in for extra flavor. You can use a hot skillet to heat corn or flour tortillas.
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