Name: Air-fried Char Siu pork belly bites
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 500 g pork belly boneless and skin removed; salt and black pepper season to taste; 10 ml Chinese five-spice powder; 10 ml oil; 50 ml char siu sauce; mini cucumbers sliced into ribbons; spring onions chopped, to garnish; fresh chillies chopped, to garnish; sesame seeds to garnish; chilli oil optional, to serve

Recipe Disclaimer

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Ingredients (10)

500 g	pork belly — boneless and skin removed
	salt and black pepper — season to taste
10 ml	Chinese five-spice powder
10 ml	oil
50 ml	char siu sauce

To serve

	mini cucumbers — sliced into ribbons
	spring onions — chopped, to garnish
	fresh chillies — chopped, to garnish
	sesame seeds — to garnish
	chilli oil — optional, to serve

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Method:

Cut the pork belly into bite size pieces and place in a small bowl. Lightly season with salt and black pepper.

Add the oil and Chinese five-spice, and mix to evenly coat all of the pork belly bites.

Air-fry at 200°C for 12-15 minutes, air-fry times may vary but they will be ready when they are nicely crisp and lightly golden.

Drizzle over the Char Siu sauce, mix to evenly coat and air-fry at 200°C for 5 minutes or until the Char Siu starts to caramelise nicely.

Serve as is or with fresh cucumber ribbons on a mini skewer along with a chilli oil dip, or any dip of your choice and garnish chopped spring onions, fresh chillies and sesame seeds.

Notes

You can use an air-fryer liner for easy cleanup if you wish but be sure to keep an eye on the pork bites and to drain any cooking liquid that may collect in the liner during air-frying.

Avoid overcrowding the air-fry basket, because the bites take so fast to cook you can do everything in two batches to make sure the bites get wonderfully crisp and caramelised.

You can add 1 – 2 tbsp of honey if you prefer a sweeter version but do keep an eye on the pork belly bites as anything with a high sugar content can tend to burn quickly under the high heat of an air-fryer!

For a spicy version, substitute some or all of the oil for chilli oil and cook as per the above instructions.

Recipe adapted from SA Pork’s sticky pork belly bites.