Thai Braised Pork Belly are tender pieces of pork slow cooked in a flavorful sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, and cilantro. Serve it with jasmine rice and your favorite sauteed fresh veggies for an easy dinner. Leftovers make the best fried rice too!
“You had me at pork belly”- Dorothy in Jerry Maguire
Okay, I know she said “hello” but it should have been pork belly. I mean seriously, it’s pork belly y’all!
What else do you need in life besides some pork and fat?? I get all jelly in the knees over it, especially when it’s slow cooked and oh so tender, like this Thai Braised Pork Belly. I’m a big fan.
What is pork belly?
Pork belly is the boneless cut of fatty meat from the belly of a pig. It is commonly used for bacon or salt pork in the United States, but it’s popularity has surged over the past several years in restaurants and is now being used in more recipes. I’ve seen it go from being exclusively sold in Asian food markets to now being readily available in local grocery stores.
In college, I cooked a lot of Asian cuisine and fell in love with belly. I couldn’t get enough of it. It seemed like weekly I was making Chinese crispy pork belly and braised belly. A huge plus was that it was super cheap and fit right in with my student budget. Sadly, the price of pork belly has pretty much tripled in price per pound due to demand. The increase in price sucks big time for people like me, because pork belly addiction does not come cheap.
Regardless of price, I continue to buy (and eat) a lot of it and refuse to ration my pork belly consumption. Not gonna do it.
How to make the best braised pork belly
- Look for a meaty belly with the skin-on for this dish (To cut the richness of the belly, I serve it with white jasmine rice and stir-fried crisp veggies).
- Use a quality fish sauce. The only fish sauce I ever use is Red Boat Premium Fish Sauce because it’s all-natural, Paleo, and totally awesome. I love it and use it on everything.
- Go low and slow. Pork belly should not be rushed, so don’t try to rush it the process.
- TIP!! Make extra of the belly, rice, and veggies to make an easy fried rice for the next night’s dinner. (OMG! I cannot stress enough how freaking awesome leftover Thai style braised pork belly is in fried rice. Not. Kidding. At. All.)
Although this has nothing to do with pork belly, BUT we finished the camper renovation last weekend. YAY!! You have no idea how happy I am to finally be D-O-N-E with that darn camper. I going to try to take some pictures today of it to write a post for next week because can’t wait to show you all the result!
Hope you try this recipe for Thai Braised Pork Belly and don’t forget to make a fried rice lunch or dinner with the leftovers the next day!
- 2 pounds meaty pork belly , skin-on and cut into 1" cubes
- 1/2 cup cilantro , chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (I use Red Boat brand)
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar (plain vinegar only; no salt or sugar in ingredients on bottle's label)
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry
- 2 whole cloves of fresh garlic , minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger , grated
- 1 teaspoon granulated sucanat , can substitute brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 whole fresh lime
Heat a heavy bottomed pot and over medium-high heat. Add the pork belly and fry until all cubes are thoroughly browned. Remove the excess oil from the pan.
Add all of the remaining ingredients (except the lime) to the browned pork belly in the pot and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to low, stir well, and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer until the liquid has reduced and the pork belly is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Can skim off excess oil on top, if necessary.
- Cut the fresh lime in half and squeeze the juice over the cooked pork belly. Serve with plain jasmine rice and stir-fried vegetables.
- To cut the richness of the belly, serve it with white jasmine rice and stir-fried crisp veggies.
- Use the above leftovers (of pork belly, rice, and veggies) to make fried rice the next day!
This makes me miss Thailand so much. We ate the most amazing pork all over the country, so I am going to have to try your version. Yum!
Thanks Dannii and you are so lucky for having visited Thailand. I would love to visit that entire region, stay for 6 months, and learn all about how to cook traditional Thai. If my version tastes even a little bit as good as it does over there, I’d be very happy
Yay to the RV finally being done! I am SUPER excited for you and J! Can’t wait to hear all the stories about y’alls travels (fingers crossed you find LOTS of places that will let the pups join in on the RV fun!) Now on to PORK BELLY! I get super excited for this decadently delicious protein as well. You know where I previously (professionally) worked. So you KNOW I have cooked pounds upon pounds of this stuff DAILY. I used to hide in the walk in cooler and sneak eat this stuff right after it was done being cooked. Oops. lol. Yours looks absolutely DELISH! Super tender and flavorful and TOTALLY needs to be up in my belleh! Left overs for fried rice? Hellllzzz yeah… reason enough to make triple the necessary amount of belly goodness! Pinned!
Hope you guys have SO much fun at the beach! Cheers, girlie! xo
Thanks Chey and I knew I really liked you for a good reason…because you think it’s okay to triple the amount of pork belly!! I can also totally see you sneaking belly bites in the cooler We are so thankful the damn RV renovation is done. Had a blast at the beach and the girls were so good on their first camping outing.
I love it Karrie.
The Thai “fish sauce” contributes a different ultra pleasant profile to it.
Great. Just great. I salute.
Many thanks Dante. Your compliments mean so much to me
Yay! A great new way for me to cook pork! This looks so tasty!
Thank you Kathy!
I’m drooling, Karrie! I grew up on pork belly—pork fat rules! Can’t wait see to see your camper photos!
Thank you Thao and you are so right, pork belly does rule. Big time!
Oh my Lordy! This looks SO good!! Seriously, you’ve got my mouthwatering! I can imagine eating this with the bowl of rice and in the leftover version with the fried rice…and then the next night after that…..and the night after that…and then and then…..you get the picture! It looks so tender and juicy! I say you pack some of this in the camper and no matter how your first trip goes, you’ll still be happy because you’ve got this pork belly! :p Can’t wait to see pics of the finished camper!
You always leave the sweetest comments Beeta. You are also my kind of girl, eating leftover pork belly fried rice for a week! I love it for breakfast with a fried egg on top too
It looks very good. I guess it’s time for me to try the Thai Cuisine
Thank you Simona! Thai cuisine is the yummiest
Don’t be ruuuudddddeeee Heather! I ain’t gonna ration anything, especially pork belly…
Yay for the RV reno completion! I can’t wait to see the pics! And woo-hoo for the beach trip! I will absolutely take your advice and double this so I don’t run out!
Thanks Rachelle and yes, double it up! You won’t be sorry
This looks so delicious! I love thai flavors – especially fish sauce.
Thank you so much Dani and thanks for visiting! I love Thai flavors and because of the fish sauce too. Love that stuff, even though the smell is horrendous. lol!
That’s awesome that your RV reno is finished! This is the perfect meal to celebrate! It looks so flavorful and delicious!
You have no idea how happy I am that the reno is finished. Yay! Thanks Kelly for your kind compliments too
I am not a pork person, however….. I know lots and lots of people who would be DROOLING over your masterpiece!! And if I liked/ate pork, I know I would be too!
Thanks Gigi and you not being a pork person means more pork for me!! Woooohoooo!
I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never even made pork belly! This looks to die for and I love the Thai flavors!
Thanks Ashley and you should out out today ASAP to pick up some pork belly!! It’s fantastically delicious. Me too on the Thai flavors!
Oh my Karrie – this looks delicious! It’s getting on dinner time over here and now I’m having to fight the drool. I love Thai food so I’ll have to give this a go soon. I’ve never cooked pork belly before but your recipe looks fairly straightforward so fingers crossed!
Many thanks Erika! Braised pork belly is so easy to make and it’s pretty near impossible to mess it up. Hope you do give it a try and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you (although you won’t need it)
I’m going to do it – this looks amazing. Thank you for sharing it with us!
Thanks so much!! Let me know how you like it when you try it