Momofuku pork belly is so good a restaurant empire was built on it. Melting tender and deeply flavoured. And this is how they do it. For real. I asked. At the restaurant.

I’ve seen a bunch of Momofuku pork belly recipes on the net. I’ve looked at the book. And I’m telling you it’s all wrong. All the recipes are the same. Cure it up to 24 hours. Blast it at 450 for an hour.

Drop the temperature to 250F and then cook it to 165F. That’s a recipe for tasty but tough pork belly. Chewy. Not the Momofuku pork belly magic. No way. Not close.

My lesson on Momofuku pork belly – in the kitchen at Momofuku

Don’t write me off here. I was at Momofuku. I asked the waiter how they make the pork belly.

It went like this…

“How do they cook the pork belly?”

“They cure it and roast it.”

“What temperature?”

“I’ll be right back.”

Different guy shows up at the table.

“They cook it at 290F.”

“Thanks. For how long?

“Please come with me sir”

No secrets anymore

Off I went to the kitchen. That’s how I got my lesson. I spoke to the chef. Not David Chang though. That would have blown my mind. But still, good enough.

This is the lesson I got for the Momofuku pork belly. Just as I was told. And I believe it because it’s just how I remember the pork belly.

Momofuku pork belly sliced on cutting board with knife and chopsticks - 1 Momofuku pork belly sliced on cutting board with knife and chopsticks - 2 Momofuku pork belly sliced on cutting board with knife and chopsticks - 3

momofuku pork belly

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs meaty pork belly

The cure

  • 1/4 cup kosher salt - specifically diamond crystal brand.
  • 2 tbsp white sugar
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

  • Combine the sugar, salt and black pepper and mix well. You will likely have too much so don’t feel like you have to use all of it. You want to coat liberally. Not pack it in the cure mix. Don’t use table salt. Diamond crystal kosher salt. If you want to try it with table salt please roll way back on the amount of salt you use. It’s tested with diamond crystal. It works with diamond crystal.
  • Remove the skin from the pork belly. You can get your butcher to do this for you. If you want to do it yourself it’s not that hard if you have a good knife. Run the blade along the skin, pulling the flap of skin up as you go along. If you screw up don’t worry. Just try again. It’s not like it has to be perfect. It’s a pork belly…
  • Pull out a cookie sheet. Put the pork on the cookie sheet and coat the pork belly liberally with the sugar, salt and black pepper mixture.
  • Refrigerate the pork belly, uncovered for 12 hours. Try not to go less than 10 hours. Don’t go much over 14. A long cure is not what you are looking for here.
  • Pre-heat your oven to 290F.
  • Remove the pork from the fridge, brush any remaining cure from the surface (or give it a quick rinse) and place it in a baking pan large enough to hold it comfortably. If you don’t have one, use your cookie sheet. Cover with foil and place in the oven.
  • Cook to an internal temperature of 190F. I can’t tell you how long this will take because I don’t know how thick your pork belly is. Maybe 4 hours. But start checking after two hours. This is like BBQ. It’s done when it’s done.
  • Remove the pork from the oven and let rest 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve.
  • To re-heat, steam slices if you want it meltingly tender. Pan-fry slices if you want a bit of crust. All good…

Notes

Nutrition

Move over sriracha mayo. So long chipotle mayo. Here comes gochujang mayonnaise. Time to put a little Korean flair into your sandwiches. It’s the next big thing.

Serve it with roasted pork. Bacon. Pork belly. Basically just about any pork works with gochujang mayonnaise. It’s a sandwich marriage made in heaven.

OK. That might be a bit overstated. Sriracha mayo isn’t going anywhere. But gochujang mayonnaise is really good. So good I don’t know why it isn’t a thing. Yet.

Gochujang is something you need to try

If you like sriracha mayo you are going to love gochujang mayonnaise! - 4

If you have no idea what this is about, gochujang is this wonderful umami bomb Korean chili paste. Think miso with red chile kick. Tasty, tasty stuff.

Gochujang is starting to get a bit more recognition, though. Slowly. Gochujang mayo even. Or gochujang aioli. That’s just gochu mayo with some garlic mixed in.

I’ve seen it on funkier menus around town. Good sign. Korean cooking is way under-rated. You owe it to yourself to try it some time.

Gochujang mayonnaise in a white bowl next to a pork belly sandwich. - 5 Gochujang mayonnaise in a white bowl next to a pork belly sandwich. - 6