Chinese Roast Pork

4.54 from 265 votes
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Chinese roast pork or siu yuk. Save yourself a trip to Chinatown and use this easy recipe for the best and crispiest Chinese roast pork belly at home.

Chinese roast pork, ready to serve.
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Chinese Roast Pork Recipe

In my cookbook “Easy Chinese Recipes,” I have a Chinese roast pork belly recipe, or siu yuk.

When it comes to Chinese roast pork, one could never have enough of the crispy skinned roasted pork belly. It’s sinfully delicious!

This Chinese Roast Pork recipe is from my good friend Robert Danhi’s Facebook page. Robert and his wife made the roast pork following a recipe gathered from a church in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This is the PERFECT recipe for Chinese roast pork belly! It’s absolutely mouthwatering.

The recipe is easy, hassle-free and fail-proof. I guarantee you crispy, crunchy, absolutely aromatic and to-die-for pork crackling, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly.

Chinese Roast Pork

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Crispy Chinese roast pork belly sliced into pieces.

This is the easiest and best recipe you’ll find online. There is no need to poke the pork skin, there is no no vinegar in the recipe.

There is also no need to par-boil the pork belly before roasting.

The end result is very crispy pork crackling. The pork belly is also juicy, tender, with the melt-in-your-mouth pork fat.

The taste is a bit salty and aromatic. The aroma comes from the garlic and five-spice powder.


Ingredients

Ingredients for Chinese roast pork.
  • Pork belly
  • Five spice powder
  • Garlic
  • Kosher salt

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.


How To Make This Recipe

Water being poured into a baking tray.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), arrange a pan on the bottom 1/3 of oven rack and fill with water. The pork belly should be roasted using the rack above it.

Pork belly being pat dry with a paper towel.

Step 2: Wash and use paper towels to dry the pork belly.

Horizontal slits are made on the sides of the pork belly using a knife.

Step 3: Make some horizontal slits on the sides of the belly, then rub the meat side with the five spice powder.

Garlic is being inserted into the horizontal slits of the pork belly.

Step 4: Insert each garlic and push them deep inside the pork belly.

Kosher salt is layered evenly on top of the pork belly.

Step 5: Layer the top of the pork belly with the salt evenly.

Pork belly covered in kosher salt is placed on a wire rack on top of a baking tray with water.

Step 6: Place the pork belly on a wire rack. This is how it should look before going into the oven.

Pork belly covered in kosher salt in an oven.

Step 7: Place the pork belly at the top 1/3 of the oven and roast for 1 hour. While baking, the oil will drip to the bottom pan with water.

Pork belly with salt crust on a wire rack in an oven.

Step 8: Bake until the salt crust forms, the salt should be hardened. Check water in the pan below and add if needed. This is how the pork belly and salt crust will look like in the oven. You have to insert the garlic deep inside the horizontal slits or else they will be pushed out during the roasting process.

Salt crust on the pork belly is removed using tongs.

Step 9: Remove the pork belly from the oven, pull off the salt crust and discard.

Pork belly in an oven.

Step 10: Raise the heat of oven to 465°F (240°C), place the pork belly back in the oven and roast for another 40 minutes.

Chinese roast pork on a wire rack.

Step 11: Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes.

Chinese roast pork is being cut using a cleaver.

Step 12: Cut and serve immediately with some chili sauce and hoisin sauce, or eat as is.


Frequently Asked Questions

How many calories per serving?

This recipe is only 446 calories per serving.

Chinatown Chinese roasted pork belly or siu yuk.

What To Serve With This Recipe

Serve this dish with rice or noodles. For a Chinese meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on FacebookPinterest, and Instagram for new updates.


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4.54 from 265 votes

Chinese Roast Pork Belly

Chinese roast pork or siu yuk. Save yourself a trip to Chinatown and use this easy recipe for the best and crispiest Chinese roast pork belly at home.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Additional Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 6 people
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Ingredients  

  • 2 lbs. pork belly
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon five spice powder
  • Kosher salt, for layering

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), arrange a pan on the bottom 1/3 of oven rack and fill with water. The pork belly should be roasted using the rack above it.
  • Wash and use paper towels to dry the pork belly.
  • Make some horizontal slits on the sides of the belly, then rub the meat side with the five spice powder.
  • Insert each garlic and push them deep inside the pork belly.
  • Layer the top of the pork belly with the salt evenly.
  • Place the pork belly on a wire rack. This is how it should look before going into the oven.
  • Place the pork belly at the top 1/3 of the oven and roast for 1 hour. While baking, the oil will drip to the bottom pan with water.
  • Bake until the salt crust forms, the salt should be hardened. Check water in the pan below and add if needed. This is how the pork belly and salt crust will look like in the oven. You have to insert the garlic deep inside the horizontal slits or else they will be pushed out during the roasting process.
  • Remove the pork belly from the oven, pull off the salt crust and discard.
  • Raise the heat of oven to 465°F (240°C), place the pork belly back in the oven and roast for another 40 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes.
  • Cut and serve immediately with some chili sauce and hoisin sauce, or eat as is.

Video

Notes

  • Bake until the salt crust forms, the salt should be hardened.
  • Check water in the pan below and add if needed. 
  • You have to insert the garlic deep inside the horizontal slits or else they will be pushed out during the roasting process.

Nutrition

Serving: 6people, Calories: 446kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 35g, Fat: 33g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 19g, Cholesterol: 127mg, Sodium: 495mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Please rate and comment below!

About Rasa Malaysia

Bee is a recipe developer and best-selling cookbook author, sharing easy, quick, and delicious Asian and American recipes since 2006. With a strong following of almost 2 million fans online, her expertise has been featured in major publications, TV and radio programs, and live cooking demos throughout the United States and Asia.

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Recipe Rating





292 Comments

  1. Sky says:

    Hi Bee,
    Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s awesome and super easy to make. The skin is super crunchy!
    I found that my skin falls off when I chop it. Do you have any tips to keep it all together? Find it hard to chop into smaller pieces while keeping the skin on. Do I let it rest longer?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes you can rest longer, or have a sharper knife.

    2. Isobel Hall says:

      Can you please tell me the cooking time for 2.7kg?

    3. Eyclee says:

      Rest the meat after cooking. Cut skin side down with a sharp knife.

    4. Lily Som says:

      Hi

      The roast pork is amazing. Can you please tell me the timing for 2kg.

      Thanks
      Lily

    5. phil says:

      Try cutting it skin side down!

  2. Lisa says:

    Hi,

    My oven has a convect roast function. Should I use that function or just the regular bake function or broil function?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Regular.

    2. Jenny Truong says:

      This is the best roast pork recipe ever! I don’t know why its taken me this long to comment! I’ve used this same recipe following step-by-step about 30 times over the past few years and passed it on to friends and family. Everyone in my family (we’re Chinese) say its better than any store bought roast pork and is always requested at family gatherings. We call it “crack pork” because it’s so addictively delicious! This recipe (coupled with good meat and a decent oven) is flawless! Thank you so much!

      1. Rasa Malaysia says:

        Awesome thanks Jenny!

  3. Eric Pratt says:

    can this be cooked in instant pot air fryer?

    1. Admin says:

      I think so but I have never tried.

      1. Old says:

        I tried and the crackling is awesome! However it’s kind of salty. Should I put less salt or scrap of the skin harder?

        1. Rasa Malaysia says:

          Yes you can put less salt.

    2. Marion M Tom says:

      I saw a YouTube clip wherein the chef used the air fryer. Only caveat is that the pork has to be the same size as the air fryer. Since I have a small fryer, my pork will be slightly under 2-lbs. only. You wrap a large piece of foil around meat (like an envelope with corners) exposing skin on top. Juices will drip into foil. Roast 25-mins. at 350F degrees, then remove foil and increase temp to 400F degrees for another 10-15 mins. to crisp up the skin. I have not tried this but good luck.

  4. Hwee Ping Teo says:

    Hi Bee can you explain why my Salt crust does not form in a piece after the first hour and is still stuck to the skin? Should I leave it to roast longer?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Did you follow the recipe exactly and the timing?

      1. James says:

        Hello Bee,

        Is the coarse or fine grain of Kosher salt be used?
        Can I use regular iodized salt or sea salt instead of Kosher salt?

        1. Rasa Malaysia says:

          Yes.

  5. Renn says:

    Best method ever! Thank you for sharing. I kept it overnight in fridge, the skin become melt in your mouth crispiness!

  6. Tammy says:

    Hi Bee,
    Tried this recipe last week and it was super good, meat so tender & crispy skin. thank you for sharing such an easy method to do roast pork.
    to add some saltiness to it, can i put salt & five spice powder together on the meat?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Yes you can.

  7. Christine says:

    Hi Bee, this recipe looks really easy. I do ha a question: do you place both water bath and wire tray in the middle rack in oven and use bake function (top and bottom) or grill function for 1 hr with salt and 40 minutes with salt crust removed? Thank you

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Please check the video embedded in the recipe card.

  8. Johnni says:

    I have tried may recipes promising Chinese roast pork and all failed to produce the desired results. That is till i used your recipe. Talk about less is more, your recipe is so easy and minimal, yet the result is perfect. The garlic is also a great touch . SO happy.
    Thank you

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Hi Johnni, all my recipes are great and easy. Please try more: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/

  9. Esthergoh says:

    Hi, I tried your method, the skin is very crispy n nice! but wonder why my pork is not tender. How to make meat softer. 180 degrees 1hr and 240 degrees 40mins .
    Thanks.
    Esther

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      I don’t know. Follow the instructions and don’t change anything.

  10. Kim says:

    Dang it I was reading the older comments and I see my answer about salt. But I have another. So my store sells pork bell it in 1 in strips. Do you think it could get those to work if I skewer them together or will the salt seep into the meat? Any ideas on how I can get strips to work?

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Strips should be fine, if they are not too skinny.