Sticky, spicy, melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, stuffed into a soft brioche bun and loaded with quick pickled veggies and a jalapeno kick! This is one indulgent burger. Perfect for a weekend treat!
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time2 hourshrs15 minutesmins
Total Time2 hourshrs35 minutesmins
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American, Chinese
Keyword: Burger, Pork Belly Ideas, Pork Burger, What to cook with pork belly
1kg(2.2 lbs) rindless pork belly slices chopped in half - each piece being approx. the length of your index finger – you’ll need around 12 pieces altogether – 3 for each burger.
Add the pork belly, chicken stock, ginger, garlic, rice wine, and sugar to a large heavy-based pan. I use a shallow cast iron casserole pan like this <--affiliate link.
1 kg (2.2 lbs) rindless pork belly slices, 1 litre (4 1/3 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 (Note 2).
Meanwhile, make the pickled vegetables. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the cucumber into thin strips, right up until you reach the seeds.
1/2 cucumber
Peel and slice the red onions thinly.
1 small red onion
Peel the carrots, remove the ends and discard. Peel strips from the carrots using the vegetable peeler.
2 small carrots
Place the cucumber and carrot strips into a mason jar.
Place the red onion slices into a second, smaller jar (they go in a different jar the the colour of the red onion doesn't 'bleed' into the carrots and cucumber).
Place the sugar, salt, cider vinegar, and water in a jug and mix together. This is your pickling liquid.
1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar, 3 tsp salt, 180 ml (3/4 cup) cider vinegar, 360 ml (1 1/2 cups) room temperature water
Pour the pickling mixture into the two jars, so they cover the vegetables. Place a lid on each jar and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour (they’ll keep for up to 2-3 weeks).
When the pork is ready, turn off the heat and drain the pork and pat dry. You can reserve the liquid if you like (perfect for ramen).
Add the oil to a large frying pan and heat over a medium-high heat.
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Add in the pork to the pan and sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and pepper, then fry, turning a couple of times, until the pork starts to turn golden - about 5-6 minutes.
pinch salt and pepper
While the pork is frying, mix together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl.
3 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp minced ginger, 1 red chilli, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tsp lemongrass paste, 2 tbsp brown sugar
Once the pork is golden, you can carefully spoon any excess fat out of the pan
Now pour the glaze over the pork and continue to cook until the pork looks dark and sticky. Remove from the heat.
Now it’s time to assemble. Open the brioche buns and place lettuce leaves on the bottom. Add the pork belly slices – 2 or 3 per burger.
4 brioche rolls, 8 lettuce leaves
Top with a few strips of drained, pickled carrot, cucumber slices and red onion slices, then sprinkle on a few jalapeños, and chilli flakes. Place the tops on the buns and serve.
1 jalapeño, ½ tsp chilli flakes
Video
Notes
Note 1 – make double of the sauce if you want extra sauce to drizzle on the burgers. It will take a little longer for the liquid to reduce to a sticky sauce.Note 2– You can also cook this stage in the slow cooker or instant pot.Slow cooker: You’ll need enough stock to cover the pork belly, then cook on low for 5-6 hours in a slow cooker. Then the final stage will need to be done it a skillet/frying pan.Instant pot: (This is reader tested – I haven’t tried this myself). Cook for 40 minutes in the instant pot.Can I freeze it? I’d recommend freezing after the slow cooking stage, but before the frying stage. Allow to defrost fully before frying, then adding the sauce. This means it should only take 15-20 minutes to make once defrosted.Can I make it gluten free?Yes, replace the rice wine with sherry (usually gluten free, but best to check), replace the stock with a gluten free stock, and replace the soy sauce with tamari. Still tastes delicious! I’ve served this up for 6 people (one gluten-intolerant), and everyone loved it.How to scale this recipe up or downYou can double or halve the recipe, sticking to the same ingredient ratios and cooking time. If doubling, you'll probably need to do the frying stage in two batches, but you can do the slow-cooking stage and the sticky sauce stage in one very large pan.Nutritional Information is per burger (yep, it's a calorific one!!)