Crispy Pork Belly Bahn Mi
Crispy, golden pork belly tucked into warm Vietnamese rolls with pickled carrots, herbs, cucumber and creamy Kewpie mayo. Big flavour, big crunch — the ultimate homemade street-food sandwich.
Ingredients
CRIPSY PORK BELLY
- 1kg pork belly
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- 4 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons salt
QUICK PICKLED CARROTS
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- ¼ cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 carrots, julienned or cut into thin matchsticks
SPRING ONION OIL (OPTIONAL)
- 1 cup finely sliced spring/green onions (I used 3 large spring onions)
- 1-2cm ginger, finely diced (optional)
- ½ teaspoon caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ¼ cup neutral flavoured oil, such as vegetable, rice bran, canola etc (do not use olive oil)
TO SERVE
- 6 Vietnamese long rolls
- Butter to spread
- Kewpie mayonnaise - about 1 tablespoon per person
- Maggi seasoning, to sprinkle over
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced lengthways
- 2 Spring/green onions, cut into 15cm lengths and then halved lengthways
- 1-2 long red chillies, thinly sliced
- ½ coriander, picked into long sprigs
- ½ fresh mint leaves, leaves picked (or try Vietnamese mint)
Instructions
PORK BELLY
- Place the pork belly on a clean board and pat the skin completely dry with paper towel. Using a sharp knife or Stanley knife, score the skin at 1 cm intervals, cutting through the rind but not into the meat. This hasselback-style scoring helps the crackling blister and makes slicing easier later.
- Flip the pork so the flesh is facing up. Make shallow slits about 2 cm apart and roughly 2 mm deep. Sprinkle over the pepper and Chinese five spice, then add the garlic and rub everything into the meat, making sure it gets into the slits to form a flavourful paste. Drizzle with fish sauce and pat in gently.
- Turn the pork back over, skin side up, and place it on a clean plate. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 6 hours (or up to 24 hours). The longer the skin dries, the better your crackling will be.
TO AIR FRY PORK BELLY
- Preheat the air fryer to 200°C for 5 minutes. Rub a little oil over the pork skin, then sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt, massaging it into the scored cuts.
- Place the pork in the air fryer, skin side up, and cook for 40 minutes.
- Check the crackling. If blistered, reduce the heat to 160°C and cook for a further 20–30 minutes until the pork is cooked through (internal temp 71°C). If the skin hasn’t fully crackled, keep cooking at 200°C until it does, then reduce to 160°C and finish cooking to temp.
- Rest the pork loosely covered with foil for 10 minutes. It should reach 75°C before slicing.
TO OVEN BAKE PORK BELLY
- Preheat the oven to 240°C. Place the pork, skin side up, on a wire rack set over a baking tray.
- Roast for 40 minutes or until the skin crackles and turns golden (it may happen sooner).
- Reduce oven temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 71°C.
- Rest loosely covered for 10 minutes before slicing (it will finish at around 75°C)
QUICK PICKLED CARROTS
- Combine the vinegar, hot water, sugar and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
- Combine the vinegar, hot water, sugar and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Stand for at least 15 minutes, or refrigerate until needed.
SPRING ONION OIL
- Place the sliced spring onions, ginger (if using), sugar, salt and pepper in a heatproof bowl.
- Heat the oil in a small pan until just smoking. Carefully pour the hot oil over the spring onion mixture and stir to combine — it will bubble and spit, so take care. Let cool completely. Serve at room temperature.
TO SERVE
- Preheat oven to 150°C and warm the rolls directly on the rack for 5–8 minutes (optional, but recommended).
- Slice each roll open without cutting all the way through.
- Spread with butter and drizzle with Kewpie mayo. Sprinkle 1–2 teaspoons of Maggi Seasoning over the cut sides.
- Layer in cucumber, spring onions, pickled carrots and slices of crispy pork belly.
- Finish with spring onion oil (if using), coriander, mint and fresh chilli. Serve immediately while the crackling is at its best.
Notes
- COOKS NOTES:
Oven Temps: Oven temperatures are for conventional, if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C.
Measurements: We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon = 5 ml, 1 tablespoon = 20 ml & 1 cup = 250 ml.
Herbs: All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed.
Vegetables: All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified.
Eggs: We use extra-large size and eggs are 55-60 g each, unless specified.