Sous Vide Pork Belly

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Make the best pork belly of your life with this Sous Vide Pork Belly recipe! It’s cooked low and slow until it’s melt-in-your-mouth tender and juicy. Serve it with rice, add it to ramen or pile it on tacos!

Pork belly is one of our favorite cuts of pork to cook and enjoy. When it’s slow cooked or braised, it turns out rich, tender and delicious!

This Kakuni (or Japanese pork belly) is caramelized to perfection and so tasty with ramen. If you love tacos, these crispy pork belly tacos do not disappoint, and for an appetizer, you just need to try these Chinese BBQ pork belly bites! 

Now that I’ve tried pork belly using the sous vide, I’m even more in love with this cut of pork!

This recipe is just so good! The pork is sweet, sticky and a little spicy - like this Chinese braised pork pork belly. Perfect for pairing with your favorite rice, like this coconut jasmine rice.

If you’re new to the sous vide method of cooking, it’s one of the best ways to cook pork (or any meat, poultry or seafood, for that matter) without overcooking it or drying it out.

In addition to this pork belly recipe, you’ll also want to try these sous vide pork chops, this sous vide pork tenderloin and sous vide pork shoulder and this sous vide pulled pork. They all make a regular appearance on our dinner menu!

Check out the sous vide pork belly story!

Why this recipe works

1. Pork belly is well suited to sous vide cooking. It’s best cooked low and slow, so at 168F degrees for 10 hours, the sous vide water bath renders the fat and tenderizes the pork belly until succulent and juicy! 
2. At a controlled temperature, there are no worries about overcooking or undercooking pork belly. It’s always melt-in-your-mouth delicious, and never tough or chewy!
3. If the caramelized, crispy pieces of pork belly are your favorite part, don’t worry! The pork belly gets a quick sear in a hot skillet before serving so it gets browned and delicious! 

What is Sous Vide?

Sous vide is basically a method of cooking using what is called an immersion circulator. This immersion circulator circulates water in a temperature controlled water bath at a certain temperature to perfectly cook your food every time.

Because the temperature doesn't change, and it keeps your meat (or dessert, veggies, etc.) at the same temperature, your risk of overcooking becomes very minimal.

To learn even more about sous vide cooking, head over and read "what is sous vide cooking and the benefits of sous vide cooking."

What is the Water Displacement Method?

The displacement method is where you slowly submerge a ziplock bag in water pushing the air out of the top of the bag (the bag should be slightly open at the top to allow air to escape).

Use a clip (I use binder clips) to clip the bag to the side to keep it from floating and getting air and/or water inside.

Tools Used

• Anova Precision Sous Vide Cooker
• 12 quart container
• Vacuum sealer
• Vacuum seal bags

You will also want to check out these posts on the best sous vide containers and the best sous vide bags for more information!

Other sous vide recipes

• Sous Vide Salmon with Pineapple Miso Glaze
• Sous Vide Rack of Lamb
• Sous Vide Risotto with Mushroom Pesto
• Sous Vide Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

For the full list of ingredients and quantities, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

You’ll need 2 pounds of pork belly for this recipe. I like to buy center cut pork belly and try to get the meatiest piece possible. You should be able to get pork belly at your local grocery store or butcher. 

Pork belly has a very high fat content. While you want some fat for taste and texture, you also want a good ratio of meat to fat. 

The pork belly is sealed in a bag with garlic, green onions, chili garlic sauce, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger and mirin.

The chili garlic sauce adds some heat and tanginess. I always have it stocked in the fridge! If you don’t have any, you can substitute with Sriracha sauce. It’s just not as thick or chunky.

Honey is added for sweetness. It also adds a sticky texture to the pork belly and helps it caramelize when browned at the end. You can substitute maple syrup if you wish, but it won’t have quite the same taste or texture.

For the ginger, you can use fresh grated ginger or ginger paste.

To round out the sweet ingredients, you’ll need 2 tablespoons of mirin. This is a sweet Japanese rice wine. If it’s not something you have on hand, you can try substituting dry sherry or white wine.

Step by step instructions

Heat a sous vide water bath to 168F degrees.

Add all of the ingredients, expect the pork belly, to a bowl and stir to combine.

Place the pork belly and liquid mixture in a vacuum seal bag and seal. **You'll need to use the moist setting on the vacuum sealer. You can also use the water displacement method.

Cook for 10 hours in the water bath.

Remove from the water bath and open the bag. Pour the liquid into a saucepan and bring to a simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and brown the pork belly on both sides. **Note you may have to turn the heat down to prevent burning (the honey may burn).

Remove and serve with rice drizzled with the simmered bag sauce. You can also slice it and serve with ramen.

Expert tips

1. Whether you’re using a vacuum seal bag or ziplock bag, removing the air from the bag is an important step in order to avoid bacteria entering the bag.
2. The bag may float in the water bath as the pork belly cooks. For safe and even cooking, it should be completely submerged. To prevent floating, you can weigh the bag down with something heavy like a wet towel or this sous vide sinker weight. 
3. If air gets in the bag, just open the bag, let the air out and reseal it. 
4. For maximum flavor, make sure the pork belly is well coated in the braising liquid before sealing the bag.
5. Instead of a large slab of pork belly, I usually buy smaller pieces or cut a large slab into pieces to make up the 2 pounds. 
6. When browning the pork belly, I keep the pieces as is, but you can cut them into smaller pieces if you wish.
7. Be careful not to brown the pork belly too long as you may overcook it. You may also need to turn down the heat if the honey on the pork belly starts to burn.
8. If your pork belly has a lot of fat on it, once it’s finished cooking, chill it in the fridge. The fat will harden and will be easier to remove.

Common questions

Make ahead instructions

You can sous vide pork belly in advance and store it in the fridge for up to a week.

To do this, once the pork belly comes out of the water bath, cool it down quickly by plunging it into an ice bath. Once cooled, keep the bag sealed and store in the fridge.

When ready to enjoy, place the bag of pork in a 168F degree water bath until warmed through. Then, brown the pork belly and simmer the bag juice as per the recipe instructions.

Serving options

• Serve this pork belly with steamed rice, Chinese fried rice or Instant Pot cilantro lime rice.
• Add sliced pieces of pork belly to this Instant Pot ramen and pair it with some soft boiled ramen eggs.
• Serve it with a side of veggies like baby bok choy, spicy stir fry Chinese green beans or air fryer broccoli.
• Cut the pork belly into pieces and serve it as an appetizer along with these air fryer potstickers, spicy glazed Asian wings and chicken pad Thai egg rolls.

Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment below and rate the recipe to let me know how it turned out!