Simple to make, undeniably tasty, and good enough to hold its own as a dinner entrée – mebbe over a bowl of rice or noodles – this is, I think, my preferred way to serve pork belly now, and just since I discovered Trader Joe’s precooked (which saves hours of tedious prep work) little box o’ pork belly goodness, I have tried it in lot’s of different recipes: Stew, marinated; with rosemary and Sherry Peppers Sauce, maple syrup and dijon mustard, or with a balsamic glaze. All very good, but this one, with my very favorite barbecue sauce, is the best!
INGREDIENTS
•12 oz cooked pork belly
•Barbecue sauce
•Water – optional, depending on the sauce
Slice or cut the pork belly into cubes and place in a gallon sized zipper bag.
Add your preferred barbecue sauce and, if needed, a bit of water. My barbecue sauce is rather thick, so I whisked about 3/4 cup of water into one cup of barbecue sauce and poured it over the pork belly in the zipper bag.
Squeeze out any air in the bag and seal, then give it a couple of good turns and flips to coat all of the pork belly with the barbecue sauce.
Stash in the fridge for at least an hour or, always more better, overnight, turning the bag when you think to.
About and 30 minutes before you plan to cook the pork belly, heat your oven to 375º and remove the pork belly from the fridge.
Line a baking pan with foil and, if you have one (you really should), fit a baking rack into the pan and apply cooking spray.
When the oven is at temperature, arrange the pork belly in a single layer on the rack and bake for 40 minutes to an hour. The pork belly is fully cooked, so timing is up to you, and how crispity you want the edges, I turned my cubes over after about 25 minutes and put them back in for another half hour.
Remove from the oven and serve warm or at room temperature. I tumbled mine into a bowl and set it out on the sideboard with toothpicks on the side for spearing, and folk kept picking up a piece as they passed by, as munchies before dinner, as a tasty little pork belly treat to accompany the French onion soup and garlic bread for dinner, and later, as a munchie over a round of Cards Against Humanity with chocolates and ice wine and other post meal goodies.