This Sticky Chinese Pork Belly is one of my absolute favourite recipes on the blog. Check out my three step process for pork that's meltingly tender, with a crispy exterior and gloriously sticky/sweet/spicy coating.
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I wonder how many recipes I've published with sticky in the title...
Sticky chicken stir fry, Gingerbread cake with Sticky Whisky glaze, sticky Asian sea bass this sticky pork belly and AT LEAST ten others (just did a quick count). I'm all about the sticky. Just call me sticky Nicky.
Actually don't. That sounds weird.
I sometimes like to kid myself and call it caramelized - like this 'caramelized beef brisket'. But at the end of the day, I just mean coated in some kind of sugar and then cooked until you reach the dark brown, shiny stage, creating an intense flavour that takes whatever you’ve just made to a whole new level. How could anything finished in that way not taste amazing?
For this recipe, the sticky layer is added right at the end. Don't be fooled though. Just because the pork hasn't been marinating for hours, doesn't mean it's not going to taste amazing (I confused myself with double negatives there, but I'm basically saying it tastes amazing even though we're only glazing at the end).
📋 What do we need?
For the slow-cooked pork belly
For the sticky glaze
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- This pork actually has three layers of flavour. The first coming from being slow-cooked in a pan for 2 hours with stock, garlic, ginger, rice wine and a little sugar:
- The second layer comes from being crisped in a pan with a little vegetable oil and seasoning (it's actually hard not to just stop right here and eat it from the pan like this).
- The final layer coming from the soy/chilli/sugar/lemongrass and a couple of other ingredients that are stirred together, then poured over the fried pork, before bubbling away until thick and glossy.
👩🍳PRO TIP The fat can spit quite a bit at the frying stage so we use a splatter screen/guard (<<-- affiliate link) to prevent hot oil spitting out all over the place.
🍽️ What to serve it with
That's it. Three layers of flavour in a simple recipe that really does take minimal effort.
🍲 More fantastic Chinese recipes
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Sticky Chinese Pork Belly
Ingredients
Slow Cooked Pork Belly:
- 1 kg (2.2lb) rindless pork belly slices - chopped in half (each piece being approx. the length of your index finger)
- 1 litre (4+ ¼ cups) hot chicken stock
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger - peeled and minced (or 1 tbsp of ginger puree)
- 3 cloves garlic - peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
Glaze:
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger - peeled and minced
- 1 red chilli - finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp lemon grass paste
To Serve:
- Chopped spring onions
- Chopped red chillies
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add pork belly slices, stock, ginger, garlic, rice wine and sugar to a heavy-based pan. I use a cast iron casserole pan.1 kg (2.2lb) rindless pork belly slices, 1 litre (4+ ¼ cups) hot chicken stock, 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, 3 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp rice wine, 1 tbsp caster sugar
- Bring to the boil, then place a lid on, turn down the heat and simmer for 2 hours.
- Turn off the heat, remove the pork from the pan and pat it dry using kitchen towels. You can reserve the liquid if you like (Perfect for a Thai or Chinese noodle soup).
- Chop the pork into bite sized chunks.
- In a small bowl, mix together 1 tbsp of the oil, along with a pinch of salt and pepper, the ginger, chilli, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce and lemongrass paste.1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, 1 red chilli, 2 tbsp Honey, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp lemon grass paste, pinch of salt and pepper
- Add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil to a frying pan and heat over a medium-high heat.
- Add in the pork, along with a pinch of salt and pepper, and fry, turning regularly, until the pork starts to turn golden. Be careful as the oil can splatter at this stage (I recommend a splatter guard).pinch of salt and pepper
- Now pour the glaze over the pork and continue to cook for a couple of minutes, turning the pork often, until the pork looks dark and sticky.
- Remove from the heat and serve. I like to top with a few spring onions and chopped chillies.Chopped spring onions, Chopped red chillies
Video
✎ Notes
Replace the rice wine with sherry (usually gluten free, but best to check).
Also make sure you use gluten free stock. Vegetarian Option? I haven't tried this with a meat-like alternative, but my Asian-style cauliflower wings make a great alternative. Can I use my slow cooker? Yes, you can do the first stage in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-7 hours. Keep an eye on the level of liquid and top up with a little more if needed. Nutritional information is per serving.
Nutrition
This post was first published in March 2015. Updated in October 2018 and then again in July 2022 with new photos, video and some housekeeping.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
Equipment:
In order to make this recipe you will need:
- A splatter guard/screen - to avoid hot fat spitting when frying the belly pork
- A good Kitchen knife. In the video I use my Leiths knife however I have recently bought this Dalstrong one and love it.
- Chopping Board
- Cast Iron Casserole Dish
- Measuring Jug
- Fying Pan/Skillet or a Wok.
- Wooden or Silicon Coated Spoons. We have just bought these and love them.
- A small mixing bowl to mix the glaze ingredients in. Instead of a mixing bowl we use loads of these for mixing, prepping, and serving.
Nicole says
What is “hot chicken stock”? Do you mean hot as in temperature or spice level?
Nicky Corbishley says
As in temperature - so if you're using stock cubes, it's the stock cube plus boiling water.
Silke says
This was godly!!!
I used premade chicken ramen bouillon with miso as stock and used bone in pork belly. This made the cuts bigger so I cooked them for 3 hours.
I doubled the glaze because we wanted a lot of it and added 3 more garlic cloves to the glaze.
Made this with some airfryer garlic mushrooms and garlic spinach (hmm.. do we love garlic?). Added this to rice with some scallions and sesame seeds.
I can recommend letting the pork cook before cutting it and we put in the fridge so it would be a bit harder so it's easier to cut.
We put the broth in the freezer for an amazing bowl of ramen when it's a bit colder.
Amazing recipe! Highly recommend!
kate waldron says
very easy - very very tasty- now I my folder as a regular
Faylette Boutte says
DELICIOUS
Sasha Mitchell says
Dear Nicky,
I’ve made this recipe with 2 shoulder steaks steaks and simmered them in the stock for only 20 mins. This seems to work really well. Served with sticky rice and chard (sautéed the chopped stems with onion then added the chopped leaves with garlic and light soy and steamed until wilted). So grateful for your website!
Chris C says
Sensational, easy and wow. New family favourite.
Ann says
I cooked the pork belly for 2 hours exactly and I noticed it felt kinda hard. But I still let it cool, dried it and put it (covered) in the fridge to fry in a couple days. I was hoping it would be tender. Did I cook it too long it not long enough? Any tips?
Pete says
Outstanding. I made this just as the recipe said. My two kids left nothing on their plates ! Will definitely make again and again. Thanks !
Paula Bishop says
Hey! I love your recipes thank you 😊
I have made this dish many times now and have lots of stock in the freezer for soup and was wondering which soup recipes you would use/ recommend please?
Many thanks Paula
Leila says
I second this question! This recipe was incredible so I'd love your recommendation for a noodle soup to make good use of the broth. Thanks x
Jade Falconer says
Omg this was DELICIOUS and a huge hit with the whole family, even the 3nager.
The things I did differently were
Added a tsp of cummin to both the boiling broth and the final sticky stage.
We left out most of the chilli and just added it to the top of our own for the kids.
Served with sweet potato mash and bok choi. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Loved it
K says
Amazing. This was really good. I didn't have any lemon grass so replaced with lime juice and zest. I also cut the pork belly into little pieces before cooking. The end result was just gorgeous and my family devoured it. Next time, I'll make more marinade (we like big portions)
Danny W says
I tried it tonight and it was good but for some reason my pork belly ended up disintegrating into small pieces, not the big pieces shown. I will try it again but maybe not simmer it as long.
Silke says
Hi there!
I let my big pieces of porkbelly get cold and cut them when they came out of the fridge. I pan fried them in batches and only carefully turned them 3 times. I didn't have this problem and I cooked them for 3 hours. Maybe that could help?
Carly says
So damn delicious! Mouth-numbing with the chilli without taking your breath away, hubby has requested I make this every week 😂
Jenni E says
Made this for my family tonight and they all loved it. My sons said it was the tastiest meal they had had in months ! I don’t know what that says about the rest of my meals but I’ll take it…. Absolutely beautiful and I’m sure I will be making this for many years
Gloria Davis says
This recipe was super easy to make and was a hit in my household with my family. I will make it again🥰