Crispy pork belly tacos with mango salsa

For the perfect crisp pork belly skin, air-dry your pork belly overnight in the fridge to help evaporate moisture from the skin. This dehydration process helps reduce the amount of water in the pork skin, improving your odds of creating golden, crispy crackling during the roasting process.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  2:30 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

Made With Mangoes

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

PG

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

PG

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork belly, skin-on
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 ½ cups (375 ml) water
• 1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce, chilli chopped and mixed with sauce
• ¼ white cabbage, finely shredded
• 12 flour tacos

For the salsa

• 1 ripe mango, finely chopped
• 3 coriander sprigs, leaves picked
• 1 long red chillies, seeds removed, finely chopped
• 1 eschallot, finely chopped
• 1 lime, juiced and finely zested

Chilling time overnight

Instructions

1. To prepare the pork, thinly score the skin with a sharp knife to create a line pattern, then air-dry by placing it on a tray, uncovered, and refrigerating overnight. Bring the pork to room temperature by removing from the fridge 1 hour before cooking. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200°C (fan-forced).
   
2. Rub the oil all over the pork and season with salt. Press the cumin seeds into the flesh side of the pork, then transfer to a baking dish, skin-side up and roast for 25-30 minutes, or until the skin begins to become crisp and blistered. Remove the pork from the oven and reduce the temperature to 160°C.
   
3. Combine 1½ cups water with the orange juice, vinegar and chipotle in adobo sauce, then pour around the pork, ensuring none of the crackling touches the liquid. Return the dish to the oven and roast for a further 1 ½ –2 hours, or until the pork is melting tender and the crackling is super crisp.
   
4. To make the mango salsa, combine all the ingredients together in a medium bowl.
   
5. To serve, toss the shredded cabbage with a pinch of salt. Warm the tacos in a dry pan over medium heat for 30 seconds each side (keep warm in a clean tea towel). Slice the pork belly with crackling into small pieces. Fill the tacos with cabbage, pork and the mango salsa.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Made With Mangoes

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

PG

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

PG