Crispy Pork Belly Thai Basil Stir-Fry

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Slabs of skin-on pork belly get a salt cure and a two-stage roast until the skin shatters like glass and the meat turns silky. The cubes only meet the wok at the very end, tossed for 30 seconds in a blistering garlic-chili-basil sauce so every edge is glazed but the crackling stays loud. Serve over jasmine rice with a runny fried egg, the way Bangkok street stalls do it.

Ingredients

• 2 lb skin-on pork belly, in one slab about 1 1/2 inches thick
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

• 8 clove garlic, peeled
• 6 Thai bird's eye chiles (fewer for less heat)
• 2 red Fresno chiles, sliced
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp thin (light) soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp palm sugar or light brown sugar
• 3 tbsp low-sodium chicken stock or water

• 2 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola
• 4 oz Chinese long beans or green beans, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
• 1/2 small red onion, sliced thick
• 3 cup loosely packed Thai holy basil or Thai sweet basil leaves
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup neutral oil, for frying the eggs
• 4 cup hot cooked jasmine rice
• Lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. Pat the pork belly completely dry. Set it skin-side down and rub the meat side with the sugar, white pepper, and 2 teaspoons of the kosher salt. Flip skin-side up, blot again, then prick the skin all over — 100 or more shallow pokes — with a metal skewer or the tip of a paring knife, staying in the skin and not piercing the fat below.
2. Brush the skin with the vinegar, then rub with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt mixed with the baking powder. Set the slab skin-side up on a rack over a plate and refrigerate uncovered at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours; the skin should feel dry and papery.
3. Heat the oven to 300°F. Scrape the salt crust off the skin with the back of a knife and blot dry. Set the belly skin-side up on a rack in a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and roast 2 hours, until a skewer slides into the meat with no resistance. The skin will still look pale — that's correct.
4. Raise the oven to 475°F (or switch to broil with the pan on the middle rack). Roast 15 to 25 minutes more, rotating the pan every 5 minutes, until the skin puffs, blisters, and crackles audibly. Watch closely after minute 12; blackened spots can be scraped off but bitter is bitter. Rest the slab on a cutting board 15 minutes.
5. While the pork rests, pound the garlic, Thai chiles, Fresno chiles, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a mortar to a coarse, wet paste — 60 to 90 seconds. No mortar? Pulse in a mini food processor, or mince by hand and mash with the flat of the knife. Whisk all the stir-fry sauce ingredients together in a small bowl until the sugar dissolves.
6. Cut the pork belly into 1-inch cubes with a heavy, sharp knife: press straight down through the skin in one confident motion rather than sawing. You should have about 24 cubes. Leave them uncovered at room temperature — do not stack or wrap them, or the crackling will steam and soften.
7. Fry the eggs first so they're ready. Heat 1/2 cup oil in a small skillet over medium-high until it shimmers, about 2 minutes. Crack in one egg and fry 60 to 90 seconds, spooning hot oil over the white, until the edges are lacy and brown and the yolk is still liquid. Drain on paper towels and repeat with the remaining eggs. Carefully pour off the oil.
8. Set a wok or 12-inch skillet over the highest heat until it just starts to smoke, about 2 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons neutral oil, then the chili-garlic paste. Stir-fry 20 to 30 seconds, until fragrant and just beginning to color — stand back, it will sting your eyes.
9. Add the long beans and red onion and stir-fry 90 seconds, until the beans are blistered but still snappy. Pour in the sauce mixture and let it bubble hard for 30 to 45 seconds, until it reduces to a glossy, syrupy coating that clings to a spoon.
10. Kill the heat to medium, add the pork belly cubes and all the basil, and toss just 20 to 30 seconds — long enough to wilt the basil and lacquer the meat, not long enough to soak the skin. Get it out of the pan immediately.
11. Spoon the stir-fry over jasmine rice, top each plate with a fried egg, and serve with lime wedges. Eat right away while the crackling is still loud.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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