Crispy Fried Pork Belly With 4 Best Ways To Eat It
This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission for every purchase made through these links, this doesn’t change your price in any way. Thank you for supporting my work.
If you love bacon, you will love this crispy fried pork belly recipe. It is the same cut of pork, the only difference is bacon is cured and sliced into thin strips and this pork belly is fresh meat cut into thicker slices or very thick slices depending on the store or butcher shops.
Salo, or pork fat in Ukrainian, is a national delicacy and symbol of Ukrainian cuisine. The reason for its popularity is because of its ability to stay fresh for weeks, its taste, and the involved process of making it from scratch. There is a very wide variety of salo recipes, this is one of them and probably the most popular one.
Pan-fried pork belly slices is one of my fridge staples kinda recipe. I try to always have it in stock for a number of reasons. Not only because I’m Ukrainian and we love our SALO (pork fat), but also because it is delicious and i am able to use it in a handful of dishes. It comes in handy quite often.
This easy pan fried pork belly recipe comes together quickly with just a frying pan and a few simple steps. It has a crispy texture with soft caramelized onions. Crispy pork belly slices can be served various different ways to make appetizers, breakfasts or main dish meals. In this post i share how to fry pork belly in a pan to it’s crispy texture as well as 4 of my favorite ways to use it and eat it .
The required ingredients are simple and ones you likely already have in your home. Frying up a few pounds of this cut of pork can stock you up for months. If you store fried pork belly in the fridge in an airtight container, you can pull it out and use it anytime you need it.
Some of my favorite ways to use crispy fried pork belly:
- Fried Eggs for Breakfast. Adding a spoonful of freshly cooked or refrigerated pork belly to a heated skillet, melting the fat and adding the eggs on top of it seasoned with salt and pepper. This is my family’s favorite way to have eggs in the morning. With a slice of fresh bread and sliced avocado, our breakfast is complete and we need nothing else. ( You can also make scrambled eggs mixed with these crispy cracklings too).
2. Topping for cooked potatoes. Whether you cook whole potatoes or make mashed potatoes, both go so well with this fried pork belly. When i cook whole potatoes i add more of the liquid fat when adding crispy belly pieces on top and if i cook mashed i mainly just add the cracklings for the top and a slight drizzle of fat. Because mashed potatoes have butter in them, you don’t want to have greasy potatoes vs. whole potatoes they need the extra fat for more flavor. Garnish with fresh spring onion on top for a refreshing flavor and color boost.
3. Pasta with pork belly. A meal that comes to the rescue way too many times. All it is, is just cooked pasta to al dente, drained and mixed together with as much pork belly as you want weather you have freshly fried pork belly or refrigerated. This is another easy and delicious way to eat pork belly as well as come up with a fast lunch when you’re short on time. Add chopped spring onion on top for extra flavor.
4. Cooked potato pierogi: A combination of boiled potato or potato & cheese filled pierogi, also called varenuki, cooked in a pot of water, drained and mixed together with these crispy fried pork belly cracklings. We like a good balance of meat with our cooked pierogies so we add a good amount to satisfy our taste buds. You can use your favorite pierogies whether you like them boiled or pan fried, serving pierogies with salo is the classic Ukrainian way of serving varenuki.
To make this fried pork belly, all you’ll need is 3 simple ingredients and a cooking pan. Fresh pork belly, a large onion or 2 (the more the merrier) and salt. That’s literally it. You can add a pinch of black pepper if you’d like but I hardly find it to make any difference so sometimes I’d add it and other times I won’t.
Ingredients:
- 2lb Pre-cut Pork belly (cut into small slices across the grain)
- 1-2 large onions (chopped)
- 1-1.5tsps Kosher Salt or fine sea salt ( to taste)
- Black pepper if desired
How to fry crispy pork belly with caramelized onions:
- Step 1: Cut pork belly into small strips cutting against the grain trying your best to keep even thickness. Add to a hot pan or cast iron skillet and allow it to release it’s juices. Add a good pinch of salt and mix periodically frying it on medium-high heat until it begins to brown. Then lower the heat to medium and cook down the fat until the pork pieces become stiffer, evenly browned and look like cracklings.
- Step 2: Add chopped onion and continue frying on medium heat until the onions caramelize mixing frequently to avoid burning. Lower the heat if you need to and taste a piece to see if you need more salt. Take off the heat once the onions are caramelized or became translucent.
If you prefer your pork belly to not reach the crackling crunchy texture stage, (gold and crispy) then add your onion sooner before it becomes golden brown. Keep in mind, the onion juices do soften up the cracklings just a tad bit in the end.
Save For Later:
If you haven’t yet tried fried salo, (crispy fried pork belly) this is the perfect way to open doors to a Ukrainian cuisine. A must try recipe!
I grew up eating salo fried, cured and smoked. A childhood favorite family meal was fresh fried salo with boiled unpeeled young potatoes and sauerkraut salad on the side. It is still the best meal of all meals.
If you are my European reader and you love salo, what are your favorite ways to eat or cook salo? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear how it went. Better still, snap a photo and add it with your comment. Or tag me on Instagram with #alenashomecooking. I love seeing your creations.
Related Posts:
Honey-Garlic Braised Pork Riblets in Red Wine
Tenderized Pork Loin
Double Baked Potato
Crispy Fried Pork Belly With 4 Best Ways To Eat It
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Fresh Pork belly meat Cut into small pieces
- 1-2 large Onion chopped or diced
- 1-1.5 tsp Kosher Salt or fine sea salt to taste
- 1 tsp Black pepper (optional)
Instructions
-
Step 1: Cut pork belly into small strips cutting against the grain trying your best to keep even thickness. Add to a hot pan or cast iron skillet and allow it to release it’s juices.
-
Add a good pinch of salt and mix periodically frying it on medium-high heat until it begins to brown. Then lower the heat to medium and cook down the fat until the pork pieces become stiffer, evenly browned and look like cracklings.
-
Step 2: Add chopped onion and continue frying on medium heat until the onions caramelize mixing frequently to avoid burning.
-
Lower the heat if you need to and taste a piece to see if you need more salt.
-
Take off the heat once the onions are caramelized or became translucent.
I’ve been waiting for you to post this recipe ever since you showed it on Instagram stories. Can’t wait to try it. Looks so good!