Babi Panggang Manado - Roast Pork Belly, Manado Style

I'm sure roast pork belly is not one of the first things that comes to mind when talking about Indonesian cuisine.  The majority of the population are Muslim and therefore do not eat pork, but you can still find pork throughout Indonesia.  Many Chinese and western restaurants serve pork dishes, and also it depends on where you are in Indonesia.  For example, on the island of Bali where the majority of the population are Hindu, you'll find pork in many of its traditional dishes.  Also where I live in Medan, north Sumatra, pork dishes can easily be found.  

But today I want to take you to the city of Manado in northern Sulawesi where there is a relatively large number of Christians which explains the consumption of pork. I've never been to Manado but it is on my list of places to visit.  Bunaken National Park in Manado is a popular spot for scuba diving and snorkeling.  But what I'm more interested in, is the food.   

One of the main characteristics of traditional Manado dishes is spiciness.  Not just hot, but I mean like crazy-fire-in-your-mouth hot... which is why I used the seeds and all when making the bumbu or the marinade for the pork belly. But of course you can de-seed if you want the flavour to be milder.  Though actually the final result wasn't that spicy... I don't know if that's because of the chillies that I used weren't that spicy in the first place; or I've been here long enough that my heat tolerance level has gone up. Probably both.

With the red chillies, other ingredients include shallots, garlic and tamarind water.  If you're using a pestle and mortar to make the marinade, I suggest adding a little salt which will aid the crushing and grinding process. But you can as easily use a blender... 

To the pork belly, make sure you score the rind... you can ask your butcher to do this or use a small kitchen cutter.  This little slashes will help the marinade to penetrate into meat.  I admit, the crackling won't be as crunchy because of the wet marinade, but it's still gonna be good.  Rub the bumbu all over the pork belly and let it marinade for at least a couple of hours or even better, overnight in the fridge.

Take the pork belly out from the fridge about an hour before you roast it so that it gets back to room temperature.  And preheat your oven to the hottest temperature... make sure the oven is clean, otherwise it'll smoke like crazy.  In Manado, I believe the pork is cooked over charcoal, but I think an oven is more accessible, for me anyway.  Drizzle the pork belly with a little olive oil and season with salt (I only put a little salt when making the marinade, so it'll definitely need more).  Roast in the oven for half an hour (skin side up) to get the colour going and to render some of the fat.

After thirty minutes, turn the heat down to 150 C.  Carefully get rid of the fat and add into the tray, 500 ml of chicken stock and continue cooking for another couple of hours. Do check after an hour... if the colour gets too dark, cover it with foil.  When the pork belly is cooked, take it out of the oven and let it rest before cutting into generous slices. 

I'm sure in Manado, they eat the pork belly with other side dishes, but whenever I roast a pork belly, I must have it with braised red cabbage with apple, bacon and balsamic vinegar.  I just love the acidity from the vinegar that cuts through the I richness of fatty pork belly... and my family loves it too, so as long as everyone's happy, it's all good!

Last but not least I want to say thank you to everyone for the messages and kind birthday wishes last week. You guys are awesome! I ate lots of cake which actually is no difference to any other day, but yeah... I had a nice day. Thanks again.

Have a great week ahead! x