pork belly with cherry barbecue sauce
serves 6 | prep 30 mins (+ chilling) | cooking 3 hours 30 mins
1.6kg piece pork belly, rind scored at 1cm intervals
2 tsp olive oil
1½ tbs sea salt
1 orange, juiced
cherry barbecue sauce
2 tsp olive oil
1 French shallot, finely chopped
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
120g (¾ cup) frozen pitted sour cherries or frozen pitted cherries
180ml (¾ cup) tomato sauce
80ml ( 1 /3 cup) apple cider vinegar
70g ( 1 /3 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
1 tbs golden syrup
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp hot English mustard
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
1 fresh bay leaf
1 Place the pork on a plate. Rub 1 tsp oil into the pork rind. Sprinkle with 1 tbs salt. Place in the fridge, uncovered, for 3 hours (this helps dry out the skin).
2 Meanwhile, for the barbecue sauce, heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until softened. Add cherries, tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, golden syrup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes or until reduced and slightly thickened. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside to cool completely.
3 Preheat oven to 250°C/230°C fan forced. Use paper towel to wipe rind completely dry. Place, skin side up, in a large heavy-based baking dish. Rub remaining oil into rind and sprinkle with the remaining salt. Roast for 45 minutes or until skin crackles. Carefully remove from oven and stand for 5 minutes.
4 Reduce oven to 160C/140C fan forced. Combine orange juice, 160ml ( 2 /3 cup) barbecue sauce, and 375ml (1½ cups) water in a
