Sous Vide BBQ Pork Belly

When I worked in the computer world my office was three blocks away from Chinatown, We often went for lunch to enjoy Dim Sum but when we were in a hurry we usually went to a Chinese BBQ shop. With BBQ duck, crispy pork belly, crispy duck and my favorite Chinese BBQ Pork to choose from and some white rice and sauce we were all set. Usually when I make my own BBQ pork at home, I use either tenderloin or country ribs. Using sous vide I decided to make my BBQ pork with pork belly. Cooking the belly at 133 degrees F will ensure the meat is not over-cooked but moist and tender. The meat is perfectly cooked separated with layers of wonderfully textured pork fat that together complements each other perfectly. You can also do this dish using country style ribs but reduce the sous vide cooking time to 4-6 hours. Using pork tenderloin which cooks so quickly I would skip the sous vide step completely and just boil.

Ingredients:

 5 pounds pork belly cut into strips

 2 Tbsp. ketchup

 4 Tbsp. Chinese rice wine

 4 Tbsp. soy sauce

 1/4 cup sugar

 3 minced garlic cloves

 2 Tbsp. minced ginger

 4 Tbsp. hoisin sauce

 2 Tbsp. five spice powder

 6 drops red food color (optional)

 For basting - half and half mixture of honey and hoisin sauce

 Procedure:

 1. Mix the marinade ingredients together and add to 2 one gallon zip lock bags . Divide the pork between the two bags and seal removing as much air as possible. Marinate the pork for 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator.

 2. Preheat the sous vide water bath to 133 degrees F and add the bags of marinated pork belly. Cook for 48 to 72 hours.

 3. Remove the pork from the bags, rinse and dry. Baste the pork with a half and half mixture of honey and hoisin sauce and broil until the pork caramelizes and just starts to blacken around the edges. Let cool and serve.

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