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 Bee Yinn Low

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. Sera Walmsley NZ says:

    Iโ€™ve made this several times now and it never fails! Such a delicious authentic tasting pork belly dish with perfect crispy skin. So easy to make! I serve with a side of choy sum and ginger rice yum! This is definitely my go to pork belly recipe now thanks so much!

    1. Bee Yinn Low says:

      Thanks!

  2. Jess says:

    Thank you for the simple recipe, May. If my oven max temperature is 230 degrees, does it affect the second roast?

    1. Bee Yinn Low says:

      Yes it will.

      1. Jess says:

        Thank you for your prompt reply especially now is the lunar new year period. Have a splendid bonding time with family

        1. Rasa Malaysia says:

          ??

  3. GE says:

    Hi Bee, do u continue to refill the water on the tray when u increase the temperature to 240ยฐC for the next 40mins? Thanks

    1. Bee Yinn Low says:

      Add water if the water receded.

  4. Parnell stewart says:

    Can I use ordinary salt if I canโ€™t get kosher salt.

    1. Bee Yinn Low says:

      Yes.

    2. Grace Ng says:

      This is the simplest, yet yummiest roasted pork recipe ever! Thank you for sharing!

      1. Rasa Malaysia says:

        Thank you!?

  5. Jason says:

    Thanks for the recipe, I love how simple it is. One problem I’m having is most of the skin gets crispy, but I always have parts of it that don’t and end up very hard to chew. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix that? I tried baking it for longer but that just ended up making it too dry or burning the edges.

    1. Bee Yinn Low says:

      Not sure what oven you use but make sure the heat are distributed evenly.

  6. May says:

    Thank you Bee,

    This is awesome, if someone couod make it for me for breakfast + nice bowl with fresh cooked jasmine rice, it would make my day starting great!! I love salty and crackling food.

    I will try this recipe. My oven is not the best one, but will try again. Thank you so much for sharing

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      Thanks May!

      1. Susan L Gerrity says:

        Love your recipes…but where do I find the meat for this recipe..no meat markets near here. What are my options?

        1. Rasa Malaysia says:

          Most large retailers will have it such as meijer, costco and whole foods.

  7. Nathan says:

    5 stars
    Marvelous and so easy!!

  8. TC says:

    Will the internal part of the oven become very dirty in the process? Thanks.

    1. Rasa Malaysia says:

      No.

  9. Stephanie says:

    I’m so grateful for this recipe. Put my fear of ruining a good slab of pork belly to rest.

  10. Margaret says:

    Thank you very much for sharing this. It really is the best and easiest recipe for siu yoke I have tried thus far.