Slow-cooked Wadadli-spiced Cubano pork belly — pork belly marinated overnight in citrus, herbs and allspice, then slow-roasted until meltingly soft, with crisp crackling shards.
- 175ml Olive Oil
- 4 tablespoons Coriander
- 4 tablespoons Parsley
- 6 tablespoons Oregano
- 6 tablespoons Mint
- 2 Red Chilli
- 1 Green Chilli
- Zest and juice of 2 Orange
- Zest and juice of 2 Lime
- Juice of 1 Grapefruit
- 40g Garlic
- 3 tsp Ground Cumin
- 2 tablespoons Ground Allspice
- To taste Salt
- To taste Black Pepper
Preparation
- Blitz all the marinade ingredients in a food processor or with a hand blender. Lay the pork in a large dish, pour over the marinade, and turn the meat, rubbing it in all over so every bit of the belly is coated. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
- The next day, heat the oven to 140C (120C fan)/275F/gas 1. Lift the meat out of its marinade (leaving most of the marinade behind in the dish, but not wiping off what sticks) and transfer to a large roasting dish. Cover with foil and roast for four and a half hours, taking it out three or four times over the cooking period to lift off the foil and spoon the juices from the bottom over the meat, then re-covering and returning to the oven.
- After the time is up, remove the foil, turn the heat up to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and give the pork a final blast for 15–20 minutes, until the top takes on a lovely colour and the meat is soft enough to cut with a spoon.
- To make crackling shards, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line a roasting tray with baking paper. Lightly score the skin, rub with three or four fat pinches of salt (and a few caraway, cumin or fennel seeds if you like), then cut into long strips and lay fat-side down on the tray. Lay a second sheet of baking paper on top, then a second baking tray of the same size, and roast for 45 minutes to an hour, until crisp (return to the oven if not yet crisp).
- Cut or pull the pork apart, top with finely chopped coriander and parsley and the crackling shards, and serve at once.
