Perfect Pork with Crackling

Pork is one of my favourite dishes to create. So much so I've studied a lot of historical recipes around the perfect pork and perfect crackling which has been on tables and at banquets since ancient Roman times.  

This recipe is from Mrs Beeton's first Cookbook in 1861 published in the Book of Household management. It was a very popular dish to cook, to the point that this same recipe appeared in many of her books.

This recipe itself is for a suckling pig and uses sage. It also mentions above the recipe how to scald a pig which makes great crackling.

I've adapted this recipe many times and the version provided below is the one I used the first time I cooked it on my first national TV Appearance on Studio 10 in April 2018 with Ita Buttrose.

This recipe is guaranteed to give you the best roast pork with crackling ever and can be applied to a suckling pig. The flavours I use instead of sage are native indigenous lemon myrtle and Pepper berries. Today it’s still my most requested recipe.

MRS BEETON’S ORIGINAL RECIPE

RECIPE

Crispy Pork Belly with Lemon Myrtle salt and Pork Scratchings

Prep Time: 15 mins (plus 6 hours drying time)
Cook Time: 2 hours Boiling plus 2 ½ hours Roasting

Ingredients

  • 800g pork skin

  • 1.5kg pork belly with skin

  • 2 teaspoons oil

  • 2 teaspoon fine salt

  • 2 teaspoon sea salt flakes

  • 1L milk

  • 1 whole head garlic, halved

  • 2-3 lemon myrtle leaves

  • 2 teaspoons pepper berries

  • 4 lemon myrtle leaves

  • 2 teaspoons of sea salt flakes

Method

  1. Trim any excess fat from the pork belly skin, then add to a pan of cold water and bring to a simmer. Cover with a cartouche and cook for 2 hours, or until you can pinch through the skin. Drain away the liquid and allow to cool slightly  (TIP: do a day before).

  2. Lay the skin out on a non-stick baking mat and place in the dehydrator or oven at 60°C. Leave to dry for 6-8 hours or until dry, hard and snapable.

  3. Break the crispy skin into small pieces, then fry in a deep-fryer at 180°C until puffed up and crispy. Set aside.

  4. Preheat oven to 220°C fan-forced.

  5. Place pork in a metal baking tray. Rub all over with oil. Rub salts into scored skin. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until skin starts to blister.

  6. Reduce oven to 160°C fan-forced. Pour milk around pork . Add garlic, lemon myrtle leaves, and pepperberries to milk. Roast for 1 hour.

  7. Increase oven to 240°C fan-forced. Roast for 10 minutes or until skin is blistered and puffed all over. Remove from oven. Carefully lift pork out of braising liquid and transfer to a plate. Stand loosely covered with foil for 10 minutes before carving.

  8. Meanwhile use a mortar and pestle to crush the lemon myrtle and remaining sea salt flakes.

  9. Serve Scratchings with Lemon myrtle salt and with apple sauce as a starter/snack. Serve pork belly with salt and with a simple  green salad and watermelon.