Banh Mi

Method

• 1)

  Turn your oven to 260C fan forced or its hottest setting if it doesn’t go to 260C.

• 2)

  Score the skin at 1cm intervals lengthways and rub with flakey salt and spray with olive oil. Place into a square baking pan and pop into the hot oven until an even crackle forms. It should take approximately 30-40 minutes. I like to take it as far as I can until the edges are starting to blacken to get the gnarly crackle.

  See notes for crackle hack

• 3)

  Once the crackle has formed take the pork belly out and turn the oven down to 150C. Place 4 Tbsp of hoisin sauce and 500ml of chicken stock into the pan ensuring the liquid comes up to just below the crackling and doesn’t cover the crackling with liquid or it will ruin your crackle. Place it back into the oven uncovered for 1 hour.

• 4)

  Juice 2 limes into a small bowl and add 10g of saved or sliced palm sugar, 2 tbsp of fish sauce and one thinly sliced red chilli. Stir to dissolve the sugar and set to one side.

• 5)

  Super thinly slice/julienne 2 cucumbers, 2 carrots and cover in the lime juice mixture from the previous step. Prepare the rest of the garnish by thinly slicing spring onion, the other red chilli and knock the top off a bunch of fresh coriander. Set it all to one side.

• 6)

  Remove the pork from the oven and slice into 4 equal parts then slice each quarter into 3 or 4 slices for each roll. use the base of your knife to crack the crackling to be able to chop through.

• 7)

  Cut the baguette into 4 equal rolls, remove the soft white bread to make extra room for your filling. Then construct the Banh Mi’s by spreading one side of the bread with Pate, then other with some siracha. Add some of the carrot and cucumber mixture, spring onions, fresh chilli, the pork slices with the crackling facing up and some fresh coriander.