Oats Free Crispy Pork Belly (Siu Yuk)
Few dishes deliver the kind of primal satisfaction that comes from biting through a shatteringly crisp skin into rich, tender pork belly underneath. This Cantonese classic gets its legendary crackle from a careful two-step process: a salt-and-baking-soda crust that draws out moisture overnight, followed by a high-heat blast in the oven that blisters the skin into golden, bubbled perfection. The marinade — garlic-infused oil, tamari, five-spice, and white pepper — soaks deep into the meat side, building that warm, aromatic backbone that makes every bite so satisfying. Because the entire recipe is built around whole, naturally grain-free ingredients, there's no need to scrutinize labels or swap anything out — it's simply free of oats by nature. Tamari stands in for soy sauce here, and it pulls double duty as both a marinade component and a clean, savory dipping sauce. The technique is methodical but genuinely approachable: most of the work happens the night before, so the actual cook day feels almost effortless. Slice it into pieces at the table and watch it disappear faster than you'd expect.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
For the pork
- 2 ½ lb skin-on pork belly, in one slab
For the marinade
- 1 tbsp garlic-infused oil
- 1 tbsp tamari
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp fine salt
For the skin
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp coarse sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
For serving
- 3 stalks scallion, green tops only, thinly sliced (optional)
- 1 tbsp tamari, for dipping (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Pat the pork belly completely dry with paper towels. Using a sharp skewer, fork, or the tip of a paring knife, poke the skin all over — aim for at least 50–60 punctures across the entire surface, going no deeper than the fat layer beneath the skin. This is the most important step for achieving a bubbly, crackling crust.
- 2
Flip the pork belly skin-side down. In a small bowl, stir together the garlic-infused oil, tamari, five-spice powder, white pepper, sugar, and fine salt until combined. Rub this marinade evenly over the meat and fat sides only — keep it off the skin entirely.
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