Air-Fryer Crispy Pork Belly

If you’re looking for an incredibly easy air-fryer alternative recipe to the traditional crispy roast pork that you would typically find at Chinese restaurants, make sure you save this recipe! The conventional recipe typically takes 1-2 days to make, as it requires an extensive waiting period in the fridge to dry out, but using the air fryer, we can reduce that to a fraction of the time! This crispy pork belly is juicy, flavorful, and incredibly crunchy. Perfect for family meals and entertaining!

How to Make the Crispy Pork Belly:

The first thing we’ll need to do is make a dry rub for our pork. It’s a simple mix of seasonings that uses a 1:1 blend, so it’s easy to increase or reduce depending on how much pork belly you’re using. You’ll use equal parts of five spice powder, garlic powder, sugar, white pepper, and salt for the rub. Mix the seasoning blend together well, and season just the pork belly’s meat side, exposing the skin side.

Then, we’ll need to poke holes into the skin of the pork belly. The more holes, the crispier our pork will be. I like using a tenderizing tool to make it easier, but if you don’t have one, you can just use skewers or even a fork.

Once there are enough holes, we’ll wrap the meat side of the pork belly with a little foil house. Make sure you wrap the meat nicely and tightly, and let the foil over the pork belly by a 1/4 inch so it can also house the kosher salt. Cover the pork belly with an even layer of kosher salt, and then it’s time to cook it in the air fryer!

Air Frying the Pork Belly:

Please keep in mind that every air fryer is slightly different, so some of these temperatures and times may vary.
The initial cook will be at 250F for half an hour to help draw out any remaining moisture from the pork belly’s skin. After thirty minutes, we’ll remove the pork belly, remove the kosher salt cap, and brush away any excess salt. Be thorough in brushing away the salt, as it will be overly salty if there’s too much residual. This is also where tightly wrapping the foil to prevent the kosher salt from falling down the sides also comes into play.

The pork belly goes back into the air fryer uncovered at 400F for twenty minutes or until it is cooked through. Depending on the strength of your air fryer, this may take a bit more time. Check every five minutes after the initial twenty to ensure the pork belly’s skin doesn’t burn. As a final step, you can also broil on high for an additional 2-4 minutes to get the skin to puff up.

Let the pork belly cool down for five minutes before slicing! I’m serving the crispy pork belly over rice and with a sweet soy sauce. This dish is straight-up comfort for me!