Move over “Marry Me” Roast Chicken and say HELLO to “Marry Me” Roast Pork.
This recipe is SO good and SO easy and it’s made in the air fryer!

I am Cantonese Chinese so I know my siu yuk (Cantonese for “roast pork”) – I’ve been eating it my whole life and it’s definitely a favorite of mine. Today I’ll share with you my super easy recipe for Chinese Roast Pork (Siu Yuk) that’s all done in the air fryer. Not only is it easy to make, it’s way better than buying it!! When you buy it from the chinese bbq deli, the pork has just been hanging there all day and it gets dried out. When you make it yourself, it’s deliciously juicy and the skin is so crispy. You’ll never go back once you start making your own!!

Actually, Chinese roast pork is a celebration food so it’s quite expensive when you buy it at the bbq shop or order it at the restaurant, but what they don’t want you to know is that pork belly is so cheap and transforming it to roast pork is super simple! My recipe is extra easy because I don’t do the salt crust as I don’t think that’s needed.

Most importantly, my Chinese mom LOVES it so that’s how you KNOW this recipe is good (because we all know how Chinese mothers can be lol #iykyk). She says she’ll never buy it pre-made from the store ever again and she always calls me me to make it when pork belly goes on sale at the grocery store lol.

I thought it would be the perfect time to share the recipe because Chinese New Years is coming up so impress your Asian family with this at your Lunar New Year party!!

Note: If making lots of it for a party, you can make this in the oven as well but you’ll just want to bump up both the cooking temperature and time (air fryer is hotter and cooks faster)

Ingredients + Tools:

I am sharing the recipe for 1 lb of pork belly for sake of a simple recipe, but I always do 2 lbs because 1 lb is never enough for my family and might as well make 2 lbs if you’re going through the effort of making it! So just double the recipe and you’ll be using the air fryer twice (cook each lb separately, not at the same time).

• 1 lb of Unsliced Pork Belly Slab, you can buy this at an Asian grocery store for about $4.99-$5.99 a lb or cheaper if on sale
• Meat Seasoning, you don’t need much seasoning at all as pork is already very flavorful
  • 1/2 tsp sugar, any kind
  • 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder, or any kind of salty flavor alternative
  • 1/4 tsp pepper, white is preferred but more expensive, so I just use black pepper and use a bit more
  • 1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice, you can buy it or create your own if you already have cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise, and white pepper
  • 1 tsp Shaoxing wine, you can order it or use any type of cooking wine like sake or even sesame oil that helps remove pork odor
• 1 tbsp of Rice Wine Vinegar, to help crisp the skin
• Meat Hole Puncher or knife. If you do decide to get a meat hole puncher, make sure to get the classic wooden one (the other ones do not work as well)
• Cleaver to help with chopping but a regular chef’s knife is fine too
• Air Fryer, this one is the BEST! Trust me. Michael’s parent’s had it and we loved it so much that we bought it as a gift for my parents and for Michael’s dad/brother as well. It’s also large so you won’t need to cut down your

Recipe:

1. Prep
   1. Clean the pork belly through your preferred method – this is a must because pork has a strong odor. We scrape the skin with a knife to remove the slime and wash any residual blood off
   2. Poke holes all over the skin as this helps to create those puffed air bubbles for that perfectly crackly skin. Be careful to poke only through the skin and not through the fat nor the meat as this will cause the juices to rise up to the skin which will expose the skin to liquid (the name of the game from here on out is to keep the top as dry as possible so it can get as crispy as possible)
2. Marinate & Dry
   • Mix meat seasoning together. You barely need any of the Shaoxing wine – only enough to make a paste out of the powder seasonings. It won’t seem like a lot of marinade paste but it’s all you need
   • Par-slice the meat-side by making vertical cuts (about 1/2 in thick or so) through the meat only without going all the way to the fat or skin. This helps the meat to cook faster and helps the seasoning to go deeper (see next step)
   • Rub the meat seasoning all over ONLY the meat-side and be sure to avoid getting any on the skin (to keep it dry) and to avoid the sides of the meat as well (to prevent burning). Since you only have a little bit of marinade, you’ll have to really work it to spread it around all over the applicable meat as well as in the cracks from the slices you made in the previous step
   • Pat the skin dry and brush it with vinegar as this helps the skin to dry out more!
   • Place into the fridge at least overnight to allow the meat to marinate and for the skin to dry up
3. Cook
   • Place onto a tray of foil where the foil is covering the sides of the pork belly (helps to prevent it from burning) and place it onto a wire rack in the air fryer
   • Roast at 300F for 25-30m depending on size of slab
   • Remove from oven and poke more holes into the skin. Pat top dry, brush more vinegar on skin, place in new tray of foil (you don’t want the fat/oil from the previous) and return to oven
   • Roast at 450F for 25-30m until the skin is perfectly golden and crispy, be sure to keep a close eye on it towards the end to ensure it doesn’t burn
4. Rest, Chop, Enjoy!
   • Rest for ~10m
   • Chop & serve! You can eat it straight up with rice and sides, in a dry noodle bowl with tons of veggies, or in spring roll wrapping

Let me know if you try it or if you have any questions and happy chinese new years // gung hei fat choy, sun nin fei lok!!!!!!
Em