Crispy pork belly and crunchy quinoa rice
Dedicated to the pork lovers of the world
Crispy pork is a wonderful thing, but not as wonderful as braised melt in your mouth fall apart pork with unctuous fat. I did that on Saturday night and tonight it was time for a crispy twist.
My favourite food blogger is Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella. On last night’s meal (last week’s post) she commented on how much she likes melt in your mouth pork. I couldn’t agree more.
If you’re confused why I’m writing about last night’s meal and last week’s post, it’s because this post has been scheduled ahead. If you’re reading this soon after it went live, I’m somewhere else at the moment, hopefully enjoying a meal out with my daughters and parents.
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I bought all the ingredients from Coles. No, Yummy Lummy is not sponsored by anyone.Recipe
- Pork belly strips
- Leftover quinoa rice previously cooked in a pressure cooker
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Lay out the strips of belly pork and pat them dry.
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Spread the leftover quinoa rice onto a baking tray.
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Press the belly pork strips into the quinoa rice to displace the quinoa rice to the sides so the quinoa rice supports the belly pork strips in a fat up position.
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Add some bird’s eye chilli slices and season with iodised salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
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Put into a toaster oven at 250 °C/480 °F for 50 minutes or until the fat has become crackling.
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Keep an eye on the quinoa rice to make sure the fat and pork juices keep it from burning.
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The balance between crunchy quinoa rice and moist juiciness from the pork fat and juices can be tested with a fork from time to time while the pork is in the oven.
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Remove the tray from the oven and place the belly pork strips onto a cutting board and allow the strips to rest for 5 minutes.
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Cut the belly pork against the grain and enjoy the sound of your sharp Dick brand butcher’s knife crunching through the crackling and slicing effortlessly through the underlying layers of fat and muscle.
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Break up the crunchy quinoa rice with a fork and transfer it to a bowl.
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Add the cut cubes of crackling encrusted pork meat on top.
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Shoot a photograph.
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Eat the meal.
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Wash the dishes (hint, wash as you cook, it makes life easier).
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Write the recipe.
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Write the blog post.
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Hit publish and hope this blog post gets shared on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Disclaimer
I have no culinary training nor qualifications.
This post is not intended to convey any health or medical advice.
If you have any health concerns about anything you read, please contact your registered medical practitioner.
The quantities are indicative. Feel free to vary the quantities to suit your taste.
I deliberately do not calculate energy for dishes. I deliberately default to 500 Calories or 500,000 calories because I do not make these calculations.
Photographs
This is a gallery of photographs. Click on one image and then scroll through the photographs.
Oven baked pork belly and crunchy chilli 🌶 quinoa rice. Cooked for 1 hour at 200 °C (400 °F). #yummylummy #foodphotography #foldio #hypop #porkbelly #quinoa 
Oven baked pork belly and crunchy chilli 🌶 quinoa rice. Cooked for 1 hour at 200 °C (400 °F). #yummylummy #foodphotography #foldio #hypop #porkbelly #quinoa 
Toaster oven with pork belly and crunchy quinoa rice
Questions and answers
What is better? Soft melt in your mouth braised belly pork or crispy crunchy pork crackling?
It’s a difficult choice to make. Can I ask for both? If I had to choose, I think when I want something comforting and safe for my ageing teeth and gums, the soft, melt in my mouth unctuousness of a braised pork belly is what I would go for especially if the sauce it had been cooking in had thickened and become nice and sticky.
How do you prevent the quinoa rice from drying right out?
Well, this is why the belly pork and its fatty goodness is so important. If you need to you could also splash on some olive oil or duck fat or pig lard while the meat and quinoa rice is cooking.
I didn’t use a fan-forced oven, I used my small bench-top toaster oven. It was fine.
Is it safe to cook leftover rice like this?
Yes, so long as the temperature gets high enough for long enough. Leftover rice is dangerous when it’s been left out at room temperature too long before refrigeration and when it’s eaten again without thorough heating. Preformed toxins can be an issue, so it’s important to never leave rice out at room temperature. As soon as it’s cooked, any rice that will not be eaten immediately should be covered and put into the refrigerator.
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Final thoughts
- How do you like to eat belly pork?
- Do you like your meat soft or firm and crispy?
- How about rice, do you like crispy rice?
Yum! And that’s a useful tip about leftover rice. I’d heard things about not eating it but you’ve explained it in more detail and what to do/not to do, thanks!
No worries. Always happy to share 😃
Is that Fray Bentos pies or it is cooking dishes on your cooker?
It’s my stack of Fray Bentos steak and kidney just in case pies 😃😃😃