Step 1

Pat dry pork belly skin with a kitchen towel. Take a metal skewer or sharp toothpick and poke small holes all over the skin. Spend a good 10 minutes or so doing this. More holes will help the skin puff up and crisp when cooking.

Step 2

Cover the skin lightly with the salt. This will draw out moisture. The drier the pork belly skin, the crispier the crackling.Let this sit for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you will see some moisture on the skin. Wipe this off with kitchen towel.

Step 3

Turn pork belly over and massage the Chinese five spice into the meat. Place this skin side up uncovered in the fridge overnight.

Step 4

The next day, take pork out of the fridge 30 minutes before going into the oven. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Cook for 90 minutes or so allowing the internal temperature of the pork belly to reach at least 70°C.

Step 5

After the 90 minutes and the pork is cooked, turn the heat of the oven to 240°C. You will see that the skin is not puffy/crispy yet but don't worry. Wipe any excess oil/moisture from the skin and put the pork belly back into the hot oven.

Step 6

The second stint in the oven will crisp up the crackling. This will take about 10 - 20 mins but best to keep an eye on the pork. Watch for the skin to puff up and turn into amazing crackling. If you see one side puffing up faster, it's probably a hot spot in the oven. Either rotate the meat around or over the puffy side to avoid burning and uneven cooking.

Step 7

After the skin is crispy, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10/15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy.