Here are 12 Different Ways to Cook Pork Belly, based on how you cut it! Pork belly is the ultimate ingredient for rich, flavorful dishes, and how you prepare it makes all the difference. They’re perfect for a quick weekday lunch or dinner From paper-thin hot-pot sliced pork belly, to cooking with a whole slab, there are so many different recipes to make pork belly shine. Add a buttery, fatty pork belly dish to your dinner tonight with one of these 12 dishes!
Whole Pork Belly Slab
When I have a lot of people coming over, I like to cook a whole pork belly slab. This is a whole piece of pork belly that is first cooked as a one whole piece and then served as thick slices. Slow cooking the pork belly whole locks the natural juices into the meat, while giving the outside a glaze of flavor. It comes out tender and hearty, with that rich fat that melts in your mouth. It’s a meaty bite that goes well with a big bite of white rice.
Bossam Inspired Korean Soy Glazed Pork Belly Wraps
Bossam Inspired Korean Soy Glazed Pork Belly Wraps is one of my favorite meals to make when we have a large group of people coming over. It’s so fun to wrap this savory pork belly with kimchi and sesame beansprout salad. If you can find perilla leaves in your area, I definitely recommend using them to wrap your pork. The skin is cooked until translucent, giving it an almost sticky chewy texture. They’re amazing as leftovers and meal prep as well!
- 4 pounds Pork belly
- 1 onion
- 1 Apple
- 1 Leek
- 2 stalks green onion
- 7 cloves garlic
- 3-4 slices ginger
- 2-3 Bay leaves
- 1 tbsp Black peppercorn
- 1 splash soju or rice wine
- 4 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1.5 tbsp Honey
For large family gatherings, I love making these Bossam Inspired Korean Soy Glazed Pork Belly Wraps. They’re easy to make, and super fun to eat – especially with family and friends. I made this for our family dinner for 5 people and it was a hit! Rich, fatty pork belly sandwiched between fresh lettuce and sour-spicy kimchi, this tasty Korean pork recipe will keep your dinner party lively. If you’re looking for tasty dish that is fun for all ages to eat, this Korean Pork Belly Wrap is the recipe.
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Air Fryer Honey Glazed Pork Belly
If you love Cha Shiu 叉燒 , you’re going to love making this Air Fryer Honey Glazed Pork Belly at home. It has the same caramelized BBQ crust using accessible pantry ingredients. This is my go-to weeknight dinner AND weekday lunchbox recipe. In fact, I made this as part of my husband’s weekly lunchboxes all the time! It’s great to enjoy with rice, noodles – even inside sandwiches!
- 1 lb pork belly, cut into 3 inches lengthwise
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine (optional)
- 1.5 tsp five-spice powder
I’m not even trying to be DRAMATIC, but if there is only one air fryer recipe you need to try, it is my Honey Glazed Pork Belly. Savory, delicious, and easy to make at home, Air Fryer Honey Glazed Pork Belly has been one of my go-to weeknight dinner recipes. PRO-TIP, make extra rice because, trust me, you will need it!
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Hand Chopped Pork Belly
Hand chopping a chunk of fatty pork belly into tiny bits is a labor of love, but it’s the best way to add some fattiness to your soups, sauces, or noodles. These tiny chunks of pork are easy to scoop up in a spoon, giving you that fatty flavor and a little bit of chew in one even bite. It’s just the right amount of chunky!
To hand-chop your pork belly, start cutting at one end so they come out as tiny layered strips with skin, fat, and meat in every little bite. Cutting it like this also makes sure that it cooks faster and absorbs flavor better.
Traditional Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice – 滷肉飯
One of the most classic Taiwanese pork belly dishes is Traditional Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice – 滷肉飯 Lu Rou Fan. The collagen from the pork skin melts into the sauce, making your lips stick together. When you serve it on top of a bowl of rice, every single grain of rice is soaked with the fatty braising sauce.
The key to having a great bowl of Lu Rou Fan is the hand chopped pork belly. There’s simply no other method or machine that can recreate that chunky texture.
When I think of a classic Taiwanese dish, I think of Lu Rou Fan, it is a dish that I can eat EVERY.SINGLE.DAY and still be craving for more! The gelatin from the pork belly makes your lips stick together, and the fat melts into the sauce, so when you serve it on top of a bowl of rice, every single grain of rice is coated with the meat sauce.
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Jajangmyeon – Korean Noodles in Black Bean Sauce
Jajangmyeon – Korean Black Bean Noodles is one of my dad’s favorite cravings while going through chemo. It’s a healthy noodle dish packed with tons of vegetables. To make the Jjajangmyeon sauce, I used hand chopped pork belly as a source of fat to stir fry the rest of the vegetables. Between all the crunchy veggies, the pork belly gives a nice chew in your bite.
- 4 servings Noodles
- ½ Onion chopped
- ½ Zucchini chopped
- 1 Potato chopped
- 1 carrot chopped
- ⅓ Daikon chopped
- 1.5 lb Pork Belly sliced, you can skip this for a Vegetarian or Vegan version
- 3 tbsp Oil
- ¼ cup Black Bean Paste
- 1 ½ cup Chicken Stock or Water
- 1 tbsp Corn Starch
- Cucumber garnish
Whenever I want something savory but packed with alot of vegetables, I make JJajangmyeon. Jajangmyeon – Korean Noodles in Black Bean Sauce is one of my favorite Korean recipes, and it is super easy to make at home.
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Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae
Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae is another recipe that uses pork belly to add some richness to an otherwise light dish. Soft tofu has a very neutral, delicate flavor. So, this tofu soup uses the fat from hand chopped pork belly to fry anchovies, garlic, and onions to add layers of flavors into your tofu stew. It’s spicy and umami makes it so addicting!
- 1 pack of Soft/Silken Tofu (12 oz)
- ¼ Onion (chopped)
- 1.5 – 2 tbsp of Korean Red Chili Flakes (adjust to your spice tolerance)
- 1.5 tbsp of Soy Sauce
- 3 cloves of Garlic (minced)
- 3 stalks of Green Onion
- 2.5 oz of Pork Belly or Beef (sliced and optional)
- 2 cups of Anochvy or Dashi stock
- 4 Fresh Shiitake Mushroom (sliced)
- One pack of Enoki Mushrooms
- 1 Egg
Welcome to a new series where I cook recipes from my favorite Korean Dramas, and the first recipe comes from my all-time favorite drama, Itaewon Class, and their delicious, savory Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew – Sundubu Jjigae. Spicy and addicting Korean Spicy Soft Tofu Stew is not only tasty but also super easy to make at home. Get yourself a big bowl of rice and get ready to indulge in Itaewon Class-inspired Sundubu Jjigae this week!
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Dice Cut Pork Belly Bites
One of the most common ways you’ll see pork belly in dishes is cut into Dice Cut Pork Belly Bites. These are usually cut into 1 inch or 2-3 cm squares. Recipe that uses this often has pork belly as the main character, cooking the pork slowly in sauces over time. This way of cutting pork belly gives you that perfect layered bite of skin, fat, and meat.
Instant Pot Taiwanese Braised Pork Belly
What’s a more iconic Pork Belly recipe than the classic Taiwanese braised pork belly? Cooking with an Instant Pot cuts the cooking time in half, and comes out extra tender every single time. This is a great dish to make for weeknight dinners. Toss it all in, and you won’t have to worry about it until you are ready to eat! Mixed with the braising juices, it’s so easy to finish bowls of rice or noodles!
- 2.5 lb Pork Belly
- 4 thin slices of Ginger
- 10 cloves Garlic smashed
- 2 Green Onion
- 1 small Cinamon Stick
- 4 Star Anise
- 5 Red Whole Chili
- ¼ cup Soy Sauce
- ¼ cup Dark Soy Sauce
- 4.5 tbsp Brown Sugar or Rock Sugar
- 3 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine optional
- ¼ cup Water
The pork is braised until FORK TENDER and packed with flavor. The sauce is savory and sweet with layers of umami flavor from different spices and condiments.
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Zong Zi (粽子)
Zong Zi (粽子) is my family recipe from my great-grandma. This recipe isn’t your typical dinner meal, but they’re actually a pretty easy meal to freeze and enjoy later. These bamboo leaf-wrapped sticky rice is filled with all sorts of fillings, but the most important one inside is a chunk of braised pork belly. This chunk of fatty pork gives this bamboo sticky rice all the meaty flavor. They’re great to making in bulk and easy to reheat.
Peanuts
- 1 cup of Peanuts washed and soaked
- 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Sugar
- 1 cup Water
This is Zong Zi (粽子), also known as Sticky Rice Dumpling, also known as what you eat to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival. If you have never had Zong Zi (粽子) before, it is kinda similar to Tamales. You wrap sticky rice, meat, nuts, mushrooms, and other ingredients inside the bamboo leaf, and you steam it. The glutinous rice soaks up all the flavor from the bamboo leaf and meat juices, becoming super savory and delicious. This Zong Zi recipe has been passed down from my great-grandma in Taiwan and is a traditional Taiwanese recipe. I have simplified the recipe so it is easy for beginners.
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Sticky Pork Belly
This Sticky Pork Belly is the household Taiwanese dish that everyone has had at least once a week. The savory, herbal glaze clings on to the pork belly, perfect for a big bite of rice. Tender, savory, and packed with flavor, sticky pork belly is my favorite childhood recipe, and it will soon be yours too! I also love enjoying this sticky pork belly with steamed buns, which tastes just like Taiwanese Gua Bao (割包).
If there is one dish that everyone will love, it is Sticky Pork Belly. Tender, savory, and packed with flavor, sticky pork belly is my favorite childhood recipe, and it will soon be yours too! If you want to save time, you can also check out my Instant Pot Braised Pork Belly, which is super delicious and quick to make at home. Get your rice ready because you will be licking your bowl and craving for seconds.
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Hot Pot Sliced Pork Belly
Hot pot sliced pork belly might be the most convenient cut of pork you might find at Asian supermarkets. This pork belly cut is made for hot pot, sliced paper thin so it fully cooks quickly. Each delicate, fatty slice melts in your mouth. It’s so thin, it stays pretty tender even if overcooked.
They’re not just for hot pot – they’re actually super convenient to use as a quick freezer protein anytime. You don’t even need to defrost them – just throw in however much you need into the pot frozen! I love using them for stir-fry, wrapped around vegetables, and added into instant noodles!
Yaki Udon – Japanese Stir-Fried Udon
If you’re in a rush and throwing something together quickly, or just need a fridge cleaning dish, Yaki Udon is a great recipe to make. Using sliced pork belly also makes cooking your lunch so much faster. You don’t only have to use hot pot sliced pork. In fact, if you have leftover honey glazed pork or Bossam, you can slice them into thinner slices and toss them in instead.
- 2 packs Frozen Udon
- 1/3 cup Hot Pot Sliced Pork Belly Optional chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 Onion sliced
- 1 cup shredded Cabbage
- 1/2 Carrot sliced
- 6 Shiitake Mushroom sliced
Today I am making Yaki Udon, which translates to Fried Udon. The stirfry sauce is sweet and savory with a little tang. It has so much flavor that I promise your whole family will love! The best part is this dinner can be completed in 15 minutes, and since it is a stirfry, you can add any protein or vegetable of your liking.
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Kongnamul-Bulgogi: Korean Spicy Bean Sprout Pork
Kongnamul-Bulgogi: Korean Spicy Bean Sprout Pork is a tasty convenient dish when you don’t know what to have for dinner. The thinly cut pork belly and the bean sprouts both cook super fast – making this an easy speedy dish. The bright spicy-sweet gochujang sauce is perfectly mellowed out by the fattiness of the pork. You’ll be able to finish bowls of rice with just this pork belly recipe.
Kongnamul-Bulgogi, or Korean Spicy Bean Sprout Pork is one-pot meal with TWO fun way to eat it! This spicy, saucy pork stir fry recipe is perfect for when you don’t feel like cooking but still want something yummy. It takes less than 15 minutes, and all you need do is put all the ingredients together. This Spicy Bean Sprout Pork Belly is the simplest way to bring some fun and excitement to the dinner table!
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Sizzling Pork Belly Plate
If you love Pepper Lunch’s sizzling platter lunches, this Sizzling Pork Belly Plate is the pork belly recipe you need. It’s sweet and savory pork and caramelized onions sizzling on a hot metal plate, with sauce drizzled all over. A bite of that crispy rice crust at the bottom with these rich layers of paper-thin pork belly might be the most satisfying bite. This is a quick and easy meal you HAVE to make at home.
- 1 lb of thinly sliced pork belly
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce
- 0.5 tablespoon dashi powder
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
Back with another 20-MINUTE DINNER, Sizzling Pork Belly Plate. If you don’t have time but want a delicious and easy dinner, you must try my Sizzle Pork Belly Plate. The sauce is the perfect balance between savory and sweet and will get you craving for more. Enjoy with rice or udon noodles, plus my go-to, FRIED EGG.
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4 Ingredient Hot Pot: Mille Feuille Nabe
Of course, what better way to use hot pot sliced pork than Mille Feuille Nabe. Made with layers of thinly sliced pork and napa cabbage, this Japanese hot pot is super light, yet still rich and umami packed. The thin fatty pork cooks quickly, rendering that buttery pork fat into the dashi broth. It has all the protein and fiber you need for a healthy meal, and all you need is a hot pot dipping sauce to complete this meal.
- 1 pack Hot Pot Sliced Pork Belly
- 1 Napa Cabbage
- 1 pack shimeji mushrooms
- 8-10 cups Dashi or any other broth
For chilly nights, there’s nothing better for dinner than a simple, 4 ingredient Mille Feuille Nabe. This is a yummy Japanese hot pot that has beautiful layers of sliced fatty pork and napa cabbage in every bite. Using dashi broth as a base, this easy hot pot is full of umami flavor. This hot pot is the perfect meal if you need something soothing, light, but super nutritious. It’s so easy to put together, you can have a steaming hot pot meal in 5 minutes!
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