Crunchiest Crackling Pork Belly

Preparation time 30 minutes + overnight marinating
Cooking time 2 hours
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
2kg pork belly, bone in
375ml bottle of beer
25g butter
1.5kg sweet potato
1 onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 teaspoon plain flour
300ml cream, heated
apple & pear chutney, to serve

METHOD
1 Use a small sharp knife to score the skin on the pork belly at 1cm intervals. Pour the beer into a shallow ceramic or glass dish. Add the pork belly, skin side up. Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.
2 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line a shallow baking dish with baking paper or foil and sit a wire rack in it. Drain the pork belly from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Place skin side down on the rack. Roast for 1 1⁄2 hours, then turn the pork belly over and roast for a further 30 minutes or until the skin has crackled completely.
3 Meanwhile grease an ovenproof dish with the butter. Peel the sweet potato and thinly slice. Arrange the slices in overlapping rows in the prepared dish, adding onion and garlic and seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper between the layers.
4 Mix the flour into the cream and pour over the sweet potato. Bake for 1 hour, until tender and golden brown on top. Serve with the pork belly and apple and pear chutney.

Tip: If the skin doesn’t crackle to your satisfaction, place under a grill for a couple of minutes. Make sure it is not too close to the heat source, and keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

Recipe courtesy of the Tooheys Cooking Handbook, $39.99, available from booksellers and online retailers.