Air Fryer Pork Belly (Crispy Chinese Siu Yuk)
Making Crispy Chinese roast pork belly 氣炸鍋脆皮烧肉 at home takes just 30 minutes of active cooking. This foolproof air fryer pork belly recipe delivers restaurant-quality crackling skin every single time. You'll get juicy, tender meat underneath a shattering-crisp layer that rivals any Cantonese BBQ shop. No special equipment needed beyond your air fryer. The secret? A few prep steps that guarantee perfect results.
- Prep time
- 25 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- 1
Wash pork belly and pat dry with a kitchen paper towel.
- 2
Boil cold water in a large pot.
- 3
Add pork belly skin side down into a pot of boiling water. Boil for 10 mins.
- 4
Remove the pork belly from the pot and lay it flat on a heavy cutting board.
- 5
Prick the pork belly skin with meat tenderizer needles or a fork. Toothpicks are too weak and will not do the job.
- 6
One of the key tips to ensure a flavourful marinade is to make a few incisions (shallow cuts) with a sharp knife on the bottom of the pork belly, but do not cut through to the skin.
- 7
In a small bowl, add marinating spices and mix well.
- 8
Apply marinating spice on the meat side.
- 9
Flip the pork belly over and apply a mixture of white vinegar and baking soda onto the skin.
- 10
Evenly coat the skin with salt.
- 11
Place the pork belly skin side up without covering it in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. Crackling roast pork requires dry skin. Do not skip this critical step.
- 12
Remove from the refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for approx. 20 mins.
- 13
Preheat the air fryer to 400F.
- 14
Wrap a large piece of foil around the sides of the pork belly without covering the top of the skin. This is the best way to keep the meat juicy.
- 15
Place pork belly into the air fryer in a single layer.
- 16
Air fry at 390F for 30 mins. You may own a different air fryer than me. I use THIS Ninja Foodi Air Fryer! Depending on the air fryer model, you may want to adjust the cooking time, increase or reduce it by 1 to 2 minutes, and avoid overcooking the roasted pork.
- 17
Insert an instant-read thermometer at the thickest part of the cooked pork belly and check that the internal temperature of the pork is at least 160-165F.
- 18
Carefully remove the perfectly golden brown and crispy roasted pork belly from the air fryer with kitchen tongs.
- 19
Let pork belly rest for a few minutes.
- 20
Slice crispy pork belly into thick pieces. No one wants thinly sliced pieces.