Crunchy Sio Bak Recipe In One Hour! With Instant Omni Pro Air Fryer Toaster Oven

The Fastest Sio Bak Recipe Ever!

I am thrilled to share a brand-new recipe for Sio Bak (Chinese Style Roast Pork Belly) that can be made in less than one hour! Traditionally, making Sio Bak requires planning a day in advance because the pork needs to be boiled, pricked, and marinated overnight before roasting for over an hour. (You can refer to my original Sio Bak recipe here.)

With this new method, you can go to the supermarket now, pick up a slab of pork belly, and transform it into Sio Bak with a crunchy rind and juicy, well-seasoned meat in less than an hour! If you know of a faster method that yields the same delicious results, please let me know!

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Why it Works

We’ve employed a few clever hacks in this recipe to transform fresh pork belly into crunchy, juicy goodness in just minutes! After weeks of experimentation, I’ve carefully tested and streamlined the process, eliminating any unnecessary steps to create the simplest version of the recipe. While this Sio Bak might not be as sublime as my original recipe, it’s a worthwhile compromise when you are craving for delicious Sio Bak and you want it NOW! (Ok lah, the quickest way to satisfy the craving is to go and buy some Sio Bak but you won’t get the satisfaction of bragging about it!)

The key hack here is to slice the pork belly into 3.5 cm strips. This not only reduces the cooking time but also eliminates the need to marinate the pork overnight to achieve proper seasoning. We also employ a few other techniques to achieve a pork rind that is thin and crunchy. Please note that the rind in a Chinese-style roasted pork belly is different from the Western style. It is thin and crunchy like a prawn cracker rather than light and bubbly like a pappadum. The key difference is in the pricking of the skin which reduces the size of the bubbles when the skin blisters.

Here’s a detailed explanation of the different techniques employed:

1. We use the Air Fryer function to blow hot air directly onto the skin, drying it in the first stage (120°C for 10 minutes) and then blistering it in the second stage (232°C for 20 minutes). This 30-minute cooking time ensures the rind is fully blistered while the pork is still tender, and juicy.
2. Instead of salting the skin overnight, we use a mixture of baking soda and salt to treat the skin for 15 minutes. The increased pH helps denature the skin while the salt draws out moisture. While 15 minutes is the minimum, you can leave it for 30 minutes or even overnight. However, I found that 15 minutes is enough to yield good results.
3. In my old Sio Bak recipe, I used to boil the pork before pricking the skin. I discovered this step isn’t necessary. Boiling the pork softens the skin, making it easier to prick, but it also shrinks the skin, making it difficult to slice into three even pieces. So, I omitted the boiling step. While pricking the skin now requires a bit more effort, it eliminates the need for an extra pot for poaching.
4. Many other recipes employ a salt crust and wrap the pork belly in aluminum foil. I found we can eliminate these steps and still achieve a crunchy rind.

Instant Omni Pro Air Fryer Toaster Oven

Although this recipe is developed using the Omni Pro Air Fryer Oven, it should work with any Air Fryer Oven. I have been using testing the oven for six months now and here some of my thoughts.

1. It is wider than a typical Air Fryer so you can easily make a 1 kg slab of Pork Belly. The Air Fryer basket can probably accommodate up to 2kg of pork belly.

2. The fan is located at the top of the oven which blows hot air directly onto the skin. This is the usual arrangement for Air Fryers but the typical convection oven blows the air from the back of the oven.

The fan is located at the top of the oven, blowing hot air directly onto the skin, thanks to the EvenCrisp™ technology. This is the usual arrangement for air fryers, but the typical convection oven blows the air from the back.

3. The Split Cook Function means I can program the oven to cook the pork belly in two stages.

4. I like the huge touchscreen display which makes it easy to see what is happening a distance away.

5. I have used the oven to bake, roast, and toast as well as slow cook. It has been a very useful second oven and has worked well with most applications. It is big enough to make a 12 inch pizza.

6. The oven is big enough to roast a whole chicken but not a large one especially if you are using the rotisserie function. So it is just right for a small family but if you need to roast a 2 kg chicken you may have problems especially if you are using the rotisserie function.

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Recipe Card

Yields: 700g Roast Pork (4-6 pax)
Prep time: 25mins
Cook time: 30mins

Ingredients

Pork Belly 1kg

Marinade
Salt 1.5tsp
White pepper 1 tsp
Garlic powder 2 tsp (or can use 3 cloves minced garlic)
MSG 1 tsp (optional)
Sesame oil 1 tsp (optional)
Chinese wine 2 tsp (can substitute with water)

Skin Prep
Baking Soda 1 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
White Vinegar 2 Tbsp

Air Frying
Cooking oil 2 Tbsp
Salt 1 tsp (skin)

Method

1. Prick pork belly all over to create evenly spaced small holes on the skin
2. Rub skin side with baking soda and salt and leave for 15mins
3. Meanwhile, combine the ingredients of the marinade
4. Prepare Air Fryer basket by lining the tray with aluminum foil and rolling up another piece of foil into a 1cm cylinder. Fold it in half. This is used to prop up the middle of the pork belly to ensure uniform blistering
5. After 15 mins dab excess water from pork skin and wash with vinegar to neutralize the baking soda.
6. Pat dry and rub extra salt on the skin.
7. Slice pork into 3 even strips about 3.5 cm. Leave the pork unsliced at one end. This will facilitate easy handling of the slab of pork belly.
8. Rub marinade onto the meat, avoiding the skin
9. Skewer the two ends of the pork belly and place onto the Airfryer basket with the aluminium foil in the middle to raise the middle portion of the pork. It should ideally be slightly convex so that the air can flow smoothly from the middle to the sides. Brush/spray oil onto the surface of the skin.
10. Using split function, program the Omni Pro Airfryer for 120C for 10mins followed by 232C for 20mins
11. Place the pork belly into the oven and press START. The oven will pre-heat with the pork already inside the oven.
12. About 7 mins from the end, rotate the tray and inspect the pork belly. Using a pair of thongs, lift up the areas that are not blistered properly so that it is higher than the rest of the pork. These areas will now be able to blister properly.
13. At the end of air frying, the skin should be perfectly blistered. If there are still areas that are not well blistered, return to the Air fryer, pull up the unblistered areas and air fry at 232 for another 3 mins. Note: If the two outer strips are already nicely blistered but the middle one still has areas that are not blistered, you can remove the outer strips and just return the middle strip to the air fryer to get it to blister properly. This will work even if the pork belly has been left out to cook for a while.

Cooking Tips

Pork Preparation

1. For this recipe, I am using local fresh pork. You can use frozen pork, but do note that the belly can be thicker than local pork depending on the age of the pig at the time of slaughter and the cooking time may need to be increased if the thickest part of the pork is still not cooked at the end of the cooking time.
2. The instrument used for pricking the pork is indispensable and I would advise you to buy one. It is available online or at your neighbourhood hardware store. If you are overseas, you can use a meat tenderizer.
3. You do need to use a fair amount of strength to ensure that you poke through the skin layer into the fat layer underneath. This will prevent bubbles from forming under the skin and separating the skin from the meat as you can see from many Western Roast Pork recipes.
4. Alternatively, you can boil the pork in hot water for 5mins, allow it to cool, then prick the skin. The skin will be soft and easy to prick then. However, the skin will shrink and you will have a bit of trouble slicing the pork into three slabs of equal thickness.
5. For easier handling, you can place the pork in the freezer for an hour or two. This will firm up the meat, making it easier to slice.
6. The vinegar will ensure that the baking soda is neutralized or sio bak might taste a little soapy. If you don’t have vinegar, just give the pork skin a quick rinse with water and pat dry.

Marinade and Skewering

1. The only really essential ingredient in the marinade is the salt. If you don’t have anything else just salt the meat all over and roast it.
2. MSG is optional. Some people are sensitive to it, but in general, it has not been proven to be harmful if taken in moderation. The MSG will add umami to the pork, making it irresistible.
3. Garlic powder is a very useful ingredient to add to the seasoning. It adds a ton of flavour and mouthfeel to the Sio Bak. If you don’t have it, you can use minced garlic or leave it out.
4. Since we slice the pork into thinner slabs, you don’t really need to marinade it as the marinade on the outside of the pork will be enough to season the meat effectively. However, if you have time, you can leave the marinade for a few hours or overnight. The salt will have time to penetrate the meat and make it a little more juicy after roasting.
5. The skewers help in the handling of the meat and keep the skin surface as even as possible. If you don’t have metal skewers, you can use bamboo skewers or disposable chopsticks or just leave them out and just arrange the pork evenly on the baking tray.

Roasting

1. So far, I have only done this recipe in the Omni Pro Air Fryer Toaster Oven. But, I am sure it would work for any Air Fryer. If you are using a conventional oven, you will need to place the pork belly on the top rack of the oven and grill at the highest setting until the rind is fully blistered. It should take around 15-20mins.

Conclusion

I hope this recipe is simple enough for you all to try at home. As you can see, you can make crispy, crunchy, juicy Sio Bak in less than an hour! I have tested the recipe more than a dozen times and I am confident that it will work!

Once you have mastered this, you can easily make Sio Bak for other recipes like “Tiger skin” kou rou (braised pork belly), stewed tofu, Thai style kailan (kana mu grob), fried rice etc. Enjoy!

This recipe is developed in partnership with Instant Pot Singapore.

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