Using sous vide to cook pork belly low and slow is the best way to thoroughly render all of that delicious fat. A quick broil in the oven or couple of hours on the smoker to finish things up ensures that crispy texture we’re all after. I love to do a sweet, sticky, spicy marinade with my pork belly, but this method will work regardless of the flavors you choose.
Although this cooking method is perhaps best known for sous vide steak and sous vide egg bites, it’s excellent for pork cuts, too. Sous vide pork chops and sous vide pork brisket are some of my other favorites!
When you cook sous vide, you vacuum seal your food, place it in a temperature controlled water bath using an immersion circulator, and let it cook low and slow for the most tender meat you’ve ever had. While low and slow is great for rendering all that fat in pork belly really well, it’s not a great method for getting it crispy. Once the pork belly is done in the water bath, it gets a little time in the oven or a couple hours on the smoker to finish the job and give you the best of both worlds.
I’m using a marinade for this recipe that has lots of brown sugar, fish sauce, gochujang, and more. It packs a great flavor punch! If you’re looking for more marinade inspiration, make sure to check out my cookbook, Sous Vide Meal Prep.
Sous Vide Meal Prep
This cookbook outlines my entire method for keeping your freezer stocked with ready to sous vide meals (and some great recipes to boot!).
Marinade for Pork Belly
If you prefer, you can use a store bought bbq rub for pork belly, but I chose to go with a marinade. Here are the ingredients I used:
- Brown sugar – this is the ingredient that provides the “sweet” and helps with the “sticky”!
- Gochujang – this is a spicy fermented chili paste commonly used in Korean cooking. It’s perfect for giving this marinade a kick.
- Soy sauce – this is what gives us big salty, savory flavor in this marinade.
- Fish sauce – I love fish sauce for a funky, umami kick. I tend to be pretty aggressive with it, but feel free to cut it in half if you don’t love it. However, I encourage you NOT to omit it altogether!
- Ginger – I use fresh ginger but you can powdered.
- Garlic – again, I’m using fresh but you can use powdered. If you’re concerned about using fresh garlic with sous vide, make sure to check out this article from my friend Jason.
Before putting the pork belly in the marinade, I scored the fatty side to help the marinade really penetrate. Then I added the pork belly and marinade to a chamber vacuum seal bag and used that to seal. Chamber vacuum sealers are great because they allow you to vacuum seal liquid, however, you don’t need one to make this! You can use another air removal method, I like the arm method for this.
From here, you can place the pork belly right into the sous vide bath to cook or refrigerate for up to 24 hours in the marinade before cooking.
Time and Temperature for Pork Belly
For a fatty cut like pork belly, we’re going to use a two-pronged approach: a high-ish temperature for sous vide and several hours to really make sure we render that fat. This method results in melt in your mouth pork belly.
I tested a few different times and temperatures and found 165 degrees F for 8-10 hours to be the best for pork belly. Yes, it’s a long wait and cook time, but I promise you that it is well worth it!
Since there’s so much fat to render, there’s a good chance your pork belly may float. I like to use sous vide magnets to make sure it stays submerged for the whole cook.
Finishing Options
As simple as it would be to enjoy the pork belly right out of the sous vide bath, it’s best to finish it to get some crisp on the outside.
My favorite way to finish this pork belly is on my Green Mountain Grill smoker. 200 degrees F for 2 hours does the trick to impart smoky flavor and crisp up the fatty exterior.
However, you don’t need a smoker! 20-30 minutes in a 350 degree F oven will also get you great results.
Lastly, you can dice the pork belly after sous viding it into one inch cubes and air fry it at 380 degrees for 12-15 minutes for pork belly bites if you’d prefer.
You can also view this recipe as a step-by-step web story here.
Get the Recipe:
Sweet and Sticky Sous Vide Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 1 4-5 lb pork belly
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
Equipment
- Chamber Vacuum Sealer optional
- Smoker optional
Instructions
- Preheat a water bath using an immersion circulator to 165 degrees F.
- Using a sharp knife, score the fatty side of the pork belly.
- In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients until combined to make the marinade.
- Add the pork belly and marinade to a chamber vacuum seal bag and use a chamber vacuum sealer to seal. Alternatively, add to a freezer-safe zipper top bag and use the "arm method" to remove the air.
- Add the sealed bag to the preheated water bath and cook for 8-10 hours. Use sous vide magnets or a ceramic plate to make sure the bag doesn't float while cooking.
- When the pork belly is done sous viding, finish for a crispy texture. To finish on the smoker, smoke at 200 degrees F for 2 hours. To finish in the oven, place a wire rack over a baking sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. To finish in the air fryer, cut the pork belly into 1 inch cubes and air fry at 380 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.
- Serve with rice, kimchi, and sliced green onions or as desired.
This was ok, but the marinade totally loses most of the flavor with the pork belly in the sous vide. I feel like it would be way better if you just saved the sauce for when you finish off the pork.