Porkbelly Babi Pangang

To prepare the pork belly, start the night before by seasoning the meat. To do this, mix 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, the 5 spice powder, paprika powder, ginger powder, ground cumin, salt and black pepper together.

Now take the piece of pork belly and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Cut away small, loose pieces of meat on the meat side and then place the meat with fat side up on your cutting board. Now take a really sharp knife and cut a diamond pattern crosswise in the layer of fat. Be careful not to go too deep, because you only want to cut through the first layer of fat.

After that take your mixture of herbs and rub the meat with it. Now wrap the meat in cling film or a large ziplock bag and place the pork belly in the refrigerator overnight.

After a night of marinating, it is time to prepare the babi pangang. It took me about 4 hours to prepare a kilo of pork belly, but take plenty of time. After all, it is a shame if your guests have to wait a long time because it all takes a bit longer than expected.

Fire up the BBQ and prepare it for indirect heat and a temperature of about 120 degrees Celsius (248 Fahrenheit).

In the meantime, remove the pork belly from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature a bit.

Is the BBQ at the right temperature? Then place the pork belly with the fat side up on the BBQ and close the BBQ. Do you have a core thermometer with a wired probe or even a wireless one? Then insert the probe into the meat first, so that you can continuously monitor the core temperature. The meat can now slowly cook to a core temperature of about 76 degrees Celsius (169 Fahrenheit).

Meanwhile put a small pan on the stove for the glaze. Add 3 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and the 2 tablespoons of ketjap manis. Heat the ingredients until the sugar has dissolved, then remove the pan from the heat. Pour the glaze into a bowl and let it cool down.

Now take your small pan again and put it on low heat. Add some oil. Chop your onion well and add to the pan along with the chopped garlic and the tomato paste. Fry for a few minutes and then add the ketchup, sambal and the rest of the brown sugar and sweet chili sauce. Also grate the ginger in the pan and stir well. Finally add 3 tablespoons of water and mix in the fourth tablespoon of water with the corn flour. Add these too and stir your mixture until it starts to thicken slightly. At that point, remove the pan from the heat and let the sauce cool a bit.

Has the pork belly reached a core temperature of 76 degrees Celsius (169 Fahrenheit)? Cover it all around with the glaze and let it cook for another 15 minutes with the lid on the BBQ. After this fifteen minutes, temporarily remove the meat from the BBQ and prepare your BBQ for direct grilling at a temperature of approximately 180 degrees Celsius (356 Fahrenheit).

Is your BBQ at the right temperature? Put the pork belly back on the BBQ, again with the fat side up. Grill the meat for 2 minutes. Then turn the pork belly over and grill the meat for 2 minutes with the fat side down. Make sure you don't get too many flames. Then remove the pork belly from the BBQ and let it rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, cut the meat into slices of about 0.5 cm thick. Take a large serving board and divide the atjar over the middle. Then place the slices of babi pangang on top and spoon some of the sauce over it. Serve the rest of the sauce separately. Enjoy your meal!