Grilled Pork Belly Skewers

If you’ve never had grilled pork belly skewers you are in for a treat. Marinated pork belly. Big Asian flavours. And the kiss of smoke. Good living.

I love pork belly. In so many ways. Chashu pork in ramen. As the meat in a really good banh mi sandwich. In kimchi jiggae. And now in grilled pork belly skewers. Fast and easy. And delicious.

There’s nothing not to love here. Big southeast Asian flavours. Lemongrass. A bit of bite from sriracha. Tart from the rice wine vinegar. It just works…

Lemongrass simple syrup to start

The backbone of this recipe is a lemongrass infused simple syrup. Water, lemongrass, sugar and a little cinnamon bark. Nothing to it.

You can use infused simple syrups all sorts of places. My favourite is cocktails. Ginger infused is great in a Moscow mule if you are into those.

Here it is just the first step towards a really tasty marinade. But it’s a good lesson to learn if you don’t make infused syrups. Fun in the kitchen. And then more fun at cocktail time.

The marinade serves double duty

The rest of the marinade is dead easy. A little soy. A splash of fish sauce. Some sriracha for a bit of fire. And black pepper for bite. That’s it. Mix it up. Done.

And the best part? The marinade becomes the dipping sauce. Kind of like a Japanese tare. Just bring it to a simmer to sterilize it. Strain it. Good to go.

Dip the skewers in the sauce as they come off the grill. Double down on flavour. First the marinade. Then the dip.

And if you want you can serve the remaining sauce as a dipping sauce for another trip to flavour town. It just keeps giving.

Grilled pork belly is more delicate than you’d think

Funny thing about pork belly. Cook it a little and it’s pretty tender. Maybe a bit chewy but tender.

Cook it a little more and it gets tough. Like why is this in my mouth tough. Cook it some more and it starts to get like real BBQ. Tender again.

It’s actually the initial tenderness that’s the surprise. Pork belly is always babied. Braised. Low and slow.

So watch out when you grill these. Know that if you go too far you won’t be happy. A little bit complicated but when you nail it you will love it. Be brave.

Grilling technique really matters here

Pork belly is the stuff they make bacon with. Grilled pork belly is like grilled bacon. You probably don’t grill bacon very often. Because that’s a good way to get a visit from the fire department.

Pork belly isn’t a lot different. It has a lot of fat. And that fat is going to render. And it’s going to flare up. Big time.

So you need to be on your game. Ready. If you make grilled pork belly know that the fire will come. You need to manage it. It’s doable. But you can’t just throw these on the grill and wander off. You need to pay attention.

So work smart. Set yourself up with a hot zone and a cool zone. Forget using the lid on your grill. You can’t leave these for 30 seconds once the flare up starts.

Don’t try to cook more than six grilled pork skewers at a time. You will run into trouble. Keep moving. Flip the skewers every 30 seconds. Move them to the cool zone when the flare ups happen.

When the fire dies down move them back over the hot zone. Flip. Flip again. Move them to the cool zone. And then back.

Sounds like a lot of work. But keep in mind they only grill for a few minutes. Under five minutes. Maybe less. So it’s over before you know it.

I know I’ve made this sound terrifying. It’s not. It’s kind of fun. In a caveman sort of way. Like a grilling cage match. One you can win. So long as you pay attention.

And when you pull it off you are a hero. A grand grill master. Best of the best. It’s worth making grilled pork belly just for bragging rights.

Lots of ways to serve grilled pork belly

These grilled pork skewers are great as finger food hot of the grill. Have your friends hang out by the grill. Hand them out like lollypops. Meat on a stick. Everyone loves that.

Or put them out on a platter with lime wedges. Drizzle them with some of the dipping sauce. Put them out and watch them disappear.

My personal favourite is to serve them up with some lettuce. Maybe a few garnishes. A little onion. A little cilantro. Couple different types of lettuce. Some of the dipping sauce. Grilled pork belly lettuce wraps.

Doesn’t really matter how you serve them up. What matters is you try them. Everyone needs more pork belly in their life. Vitamin P. It’s just good for your soul.

grilled pork belly skewers – asian style

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork belly – skin removed.
• 3 green onions (aka scallions) cut into one inch pieces
• 12 bamboo skewers soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

Marinade/dipping sauce

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 stalks lemongrass – tender parts only, chopped
• 1 2 inch cinnamon bark – cassia
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp sriracha – sambal oelek is also nice
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Instructions

Marinade

• Combine the lemongrass, sugar, cinnamon bark and water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Strain into a bowl and chill.
• Add the fish sauce, soy, black pepper and sriracha and stir. Set aside while you prep your pork belly.

Prep your pork belly

• Slice the pork belly lengthwise (think a piece of bacon) into somewhere between 1/4 and a 1/3 inch slices. You probably want to cut your pork belly in half (think cutting bacon in half) before you start to make this easier.
• Now cut each slice into 1 inch pieces.
• Combine the pork with the marinade and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours. Longer is OK as well. There’s no acid in the marinade so it’s like a brine.

Make the dipping sauce

• Remove the pork from the marinade. Set aside.
• Pour the marinade into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 1 minute. You are sterilizing your marinade to make the dipping sauce. Do not skip this step. Just don’t.
• You will see some bits formed and are floating in the marinade. These are proteins that have cooked. Strain them out.
• Stir in the rice vinegar.

Make the grilled pork skewers

• This is a little tricky. Take your time. Thread a piece of pork onto a skewer. Now skewer a piece of green onion. Repeat with another piece of pork and another piece of green onion. Finish with a third piece of pork. Repeat this until all the pork is skewered. You should get 10-12 skewers.
• Heat your grill to somewhere between medium and medium low. Give yourself a cool safety zone. You are effectively grilling unsmoked bacon here. It’s going to flare up a lot.
• Grill no more than 6 skewers at a time. This isn’t the place to be a hero. You are going to burn your skewers badly if try to do them all at once. Trust me. I tried to be a hero. Epic fail.
• It’s too hard to get internal temperature on little bits of pork belly. So you need to trust your instincts a bit. It doesn’t take long to cook through. Depending on your fire you could be looking at as little as 3-5 minutes. Could be longer but not crazy long. Be careful. Look at the pictures. Try one to see.
• You don’t want to overcook them. Pork belly is touchy. You need to cook it until just done. Cook it longer and it gets tough. Really tough. Like I wish I’d braised it tough. Not good.
• As you pull the pork belly skewers off the grill give them a good dip in the sterilized marinade.
• To serve you can go a few different directions. These skewers make great party food. Serve them with a little of the marinade as a dipping sauce. Maybe put them on a platter and drizzle the marinade overtop. Pass them around like that. Or serve them up as lettuce wraps. Skewers on lettuce with marinade drizzled overtop is good eating.

Notes

Nutrition

grilled pork belly skewers - asian style

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork belly - skin removed.
• 3 green onions (aka scallions) cut into one inch pieces
• 12 bamboo skewers soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

Marinade/dipping sauce

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 stalks lemongrass - tender parts only, chopped
• 1 2 inch cinnamon bark - cassia
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp sriracha - sambal oelek is also nice
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Instructions

Marinade

• Combine the lemongrass, sugar, cinnamon bark and water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Strain into a bowl and chill.
• Add the fish sauce, soy, black pepper and sriracha and stir. Set aside while you prep your pork belly.

Prep your pork belly

• Slice the pork belly lengthwise (think a piece of bacon) into somewhere between 1/4 and a 1/3 inch slices. You probably want to cut your pork belly in half (think cutting bacon in half) before you start to make this easier.
• Now cut each slice into 1 inch pieces.
• Combine the pork with the marinade and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours. Longer is OK as well. There’s no acid in the marinade so it’s like a brine.

Make the dipping sauce

• Remove the pork from the marinade. Set aside.
• Pour the marinade into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 1 minute. You are sterilizing your marinade to make the dipping sauce. Do not skip this step. Just don’t.
• You will see some bits formed and are floating in the marinade. These are proteins that have cooked. Strain them out.
• Stir in the rice vinegar.

Make the grilled pork skewers

• This is a little tricky. Take your time. Thread a piece of pork onto a skewer. Now skewer a piece of green onion. Repeat with another piece of pork and another piece of green onion. Finish with a third piece of pork. Repeat this until all the pork is skewered. You should get 10-12 skewers.
• Heat your grill to somewhere between medium and medium low. Give yourself a cool safety zone. You are effectively grilling unsmoked bacon here. It’s going to flare up a lot.
• Grill no more than 6 skewers at a time. This isn’t the place to be a hero. You are going to burn your skewers badly if try to do them all at once. Trust me. I tried to be a hero. Epic fail.
• It’s too hard to get internal temperature on little bits of pork belly. So you need to trust your instincts a bit. It doesn’t take long to cook through. Depending on your fire you could be looking at as little as 3-5 minutes. Could be longer but not crazy long. Be careful. Look at the pictures. Try one to see.
• You don’t want to overcook them. Pork belly is touchy. You need to cook it until just done. Cook it longer and it gets tough. Really tough. Like I wish I’d braised it tough. Not good.
• As you pull the pork belly skewers off the grill give them a good dip in the sterilized marinade.
• To serve you can go a few different directions. These skewers make great party food. Serve them with a little of the marinade as a dipping sauce. Maybe put them on a platter and drizzle the marinade overtop. Pass them around like that. Or serve them up as lettuce wraps. Skewers on lettuce with marinade drizzled overtop is good eating.

Notes

Nutrition

Bengali chicken curry done restaurant style brings home cooking to the next level. All the wonderful, authentic flavours. And an incredible, lush gravy. What’s not to love?

This isn’t on any restaurant menus. At least where I live. But it should be. It has all the big tastes you expect. But with a twist. Familiar but completely different. And really good.

Bengali chicken curry re-imagined

Bengali chicken curry done restaurant style is a riff on food I grew up eating. The flavours of my childhood. But how they would make it in a restaurant. If only restaurants made it…

Back then it was called murgir jhol. Or just chicken curry. Because when I was growing up this was the definitive chicken curry.

Everybody made it. Some did it better than others. But the backbone was always there. That wonderful Bengali five spice called panch phoran. Garlic. Ginger. Potatoes. Always potatoes. A hint of cinnamon. And chicken.

Sometimes green chili. A bit of sugar. Or mustard oil. Mustard oil is a nice touch. I’ve made it optional here but a 50/50 mix of mustard oil and vegetable oil adds a nice touch.

Murgir jhol is a runny curry. Almost soupy. Which is very different from restaurant style curries. If you’ve only had restaurant style curries try a runny one some time. Totally different experience. Like lemon coriander chicken curry . Tasty stuff.

This version is restaurant style. And that means rich, thick gravy. That’s what you will get here. I should do a homestyle version though. So you can compare. Both good.

Don’t let the simplicity of this chicken curry recipe fool you

There isn’t a long list of ingredients in Bengali chicken curry. So you might think the flavours are a bit ho hum.

You would be wrong. I am into big flavours. That’s pretty much what glebe kitchen is about. Bland is not a word I ever want to hear.

There’s Bengali five spice. That’s five spices in one. And there’s restaurant mix powder. Another seven spices. It’s just streamlined. Like they would do in restaurants. So it doesn’t take 30 minutes to measure out ingredients.

Panch phoran makes this Bengali chicken curry special

Panch phoran is the Bengali signature spice blend. Never heard of it? Not surprising. It’s big in Eastern India and Bangladesh. But you don’t see it often elsewhere.

That’s too bad. It is seriously tasty stuff. Secret weapon tasty in my book.

It’s not that exotic. Just a blend of whole spices. You can get it at any Indian grocer. Or you can make it yourself.

It’s a mix of fenugreek seed, cumin seed, mustard seed, nigella seed and fennel seed. Nothing so unusual. Except maybe nigella seed. You won’t find that at a bulk store.

Not exotic maybe. But distinctive. Flavourful. Surprisingly so. Try it. It’s addictive. And it’s what brings the magic to Bengali chicken curry.

This is a dish to make when you want something new

Bengali chicken curry. This is not standard Indian restaurant fare. Different. But delicious.

The spicing is unique. But if you try it you’ll get a glimpse into a totally different set of flavours.

Indian restaurants have a formula. And it’s all pretty similar. Which is wrong. Makes me crazy. Would you go out for Italian if every restaurant had the same menu? A world where Olive Garden reigned supreme? Not a happy place in my mind.

Indians don’t eat the same 20 dishes you see on every Indian restaurant menu. And you shouldn’t either.

Try this. Or another dish you’ve never seen on a restaurant menu. There is so much more to Indian cooking. Give your tastebuds a treat.

bengali chicken curry – restaurant style

Ingredients

The whole spice mix

• 1 tsp panch phoran – Bengali spice mix available at Indian grocers
• 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds

The powdered spice mix

• 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder
• 2 tsp Indian restaurant spice mix recipe link below
• 1/16 tsp cinnamon powder – just a pinch really. Use 1/2 your 1/8 tsp measuring spoon to be precise.
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

The curry ingredients

• 4 Tbsp neutral oil or use a 50/50 mix neutral and mustard oil
• 1 Tbsp garlic/ginger paste – recipe link below
• 1 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste Diluted in about 3 tbsp water
• 15 oz curry base – recipe link below
• 10-12 oz pre-cooked chicken see note
• 1 small to medium potato cut into 8 bite size chunks and pre-cooked in well salted water

Instructions

Do your prep

• Pre-cook your chicken. Cut the chicken into large bite size pieces. Put them in a pan with enough chicken stock or water to cover. Add a bit of spice mix or curry powder and a pinch of salt. Simmer until just barely done. The chicken cooks again briefly in the gravy.
• Pre-cook your potatoes. Cut them into pieces about the same size as the chicken. Add them to a small sauce pan and cover with well salted water. Bring to a simmer. The potatoes are done when a fork slides into them easily.
• Make the spice mixes. Combine the restaurant spice mix, kashmiri chili powder, cinnamon and salt in one small bowl. This is your powdered spice mix. Combine the mustard seeds and panch phoran in another small bowl.
• Combine 1 1/2 tablespoons of tomato paste with about 3 tablespoons of water.

Make the Bengali chicken curry

• Heat your frying pan (don’t use non-stick) briefly over medium heat. Add the oil.
• Once the oil starts to shimmer add the panch phoran and mustard seed mix. You should see little bubbles forming around the spices. Cook 15-20 seconds.
• Now add the garlic ginger paste. Cook, stirring constantly, until it stops sputtering. This should take 30 seconds or so.
• Add the powdered spice mix. This is the critical step. Stir it constantly for 30 seconds. If it starts to darken lift the pan off the heat. You want the spice mix to cook in the oil but not burn. You can go a little longer if you want. Really cook out the spices. Just be careful. Burnt spices are not tasty.
• Turn the heat up to medium high. This is important. The heat is what drives Indian restaurant flavour. The Maillard reaction kicks in and magic happens. As you become more comfortable with this technique try pushing it. Add the diluted tomato paste and stir until bubbles form (the oil will likely separate). This takes around 30 seconds to one minute depending on the heat.
• Add around 3 oz of curry base (you don’t need to be super precise here). Stir until bubbles form (little craters really), around 30 seconds. Think lively boil. Watch the edges of the pan. The curry can stick here. Sticking is OK. Just scrape it back into the base. Burning is bad.
• Now add 6 oz of curry base and stir briefly. Let it cook until the bubbles form again. This takes 1-2 minutes.
• Add the rest of the curry base and let cook until the bubbles form. Turn the heat down to low and add the pre-cooked chicken and potatoes.
• Let the curry simmer for about 5 minutes. If it gets too thick add a bit more curry base. Don’t add water.
• Garnish with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro if you like. Serve with rice or Indian flatbread (or both!).

Notes

Nutrition