Grilled Pork Belly, Argentine Style
The trick in this recipe is unusual and it works: the meat is first cooked for 45 minutes in milk before it goes onto the grill. The lactic acid and the calcium act on the connective tissue and make the pork belly butter-soft — a texture that grilling alone never reaches with this cut.
After that comes the step that gets skipped and decides everything: pat the surface thoroughly dry. Wet meat does not brown, it steams. And then it is only a few minutes a side — the meat is already cooked.
Ingredients
- 1 piece of boneless pork belly (about 800-1 kg)
- 500 ml whole milk, for tenderising
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- Coarse grilling salt, to taste
- Juice of 1 lemon, to finish
Method
- 1
Tenderising: put the pork belly in a pot with the milk, the garlic, the rosemary and the peppercorns. Cook over very low heat for 45 minutes, without letting it boil hard. The milk softens the fibres and gives it a buttery texture.
- 2
Draining and drying: lift the pork out carefully, drain it and — most important of all — pat the surface dry with kitchen paper so no moisture meets the heat.
- 3
Grilling: put the pork over medium-high heat. Cook it fat side down first, until the fat is well browned and crisp.
- 4
The final sear: turn it over and cook the meat side to a deep golden brown. Do not overcook it — it is already tender from the milk.
- 5
Serving: take it off the heat and squeeze fresh lemon juice over it before serving.