grilled pork belly skewers - asian style
Recipe: https://recipestripper.com/recipes/7af5b31b-81ab-4b75-826a-d8cf9d5920a6
Original source: https://glebekitchen.com/grilled-pork-belly-skewers-asian-style/
Recipe image: https://glebekitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/grilledporkbellyskewersclose.jpg

Lemongrass marinade and the kiss of fire make these pork belly skewers a real crowd pleaser.
Yield: 12
Prep time: PT20M
Cook time: PT10M
Total time: PT90M

Ingredients
- 1 lb pork belly (- skin removed. )
- 3 green onions ((aka scallions) cut into one inch pieces)
- 12 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for at least 30 minutes)
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 stalks lemongrass (- tender parts only, chopped)
- 1 2 inch cinnamon bark (- cassia)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp sriracha (- sambal oelek is also nice)
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Instructions
1. [Marinade] Combine the lemongrass, sugar, cinnamon bark and water in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. [Marinade] Strain into a bowl and chill.
3. [Marinade] Add the fish sauce, soy, black pepper and sriracha and stir. Set aside while you prep your pork belly.
4. [Prep your pork belly] Slice the pork belly lengthwise (think a piece of bacon) into somewhere between 1/4 and a 1/3 inch slices. You probably want to cut your pork belly in half (think cutting bacon in half) before you start to make this easier.
5. [Prep your pork belly] Now cut each slice into 1 inch pieces.
6. [Prep your pork belly] Combine the pork with the marinade and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours. Longer is OK as well. There's no acid in the marinade so it's like a brine.
7. [Make the dipping sauce] Remove the pork from the marinade. Set aside.
8. [Make the dipping sauce] Pour the marinade into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 1 minute. You are sterilizing your marinade to make the dipping sauce. Do not skip this step. Just don't.
9. [Make the dipping sauce] You will see some bits formed and are floating in the marinade. These are proteins that have cooked. Strain them out.
10. [Make the dipping sauce] Stir in the rice vinegar.
11. [Make the grilled pork skewers] This is a little tricky. Take your time. Thread a piece of pork onto a skewer. Now skewer a piece of green onion. Repeat with another piece of pork and another piece of green onion. Finish with a third piece of pork. Repeat this until all the pork is skewered. You should get 10-12 skewers.
12. [Make the grilled pork skewers] Heat your grill to somewhere between medium and medium low. Give yourself a cool safety zone. You are effectively grilling unsmoked bacon here. It's going to flare up a lot.
13. [Make the grilled pork skewers] Grill no more than 6 skewers at a time. This isn't the place to be a hero. You are going to burn your skewers badly if try to do them all at once. Trust me. I tried to be a hero. Epic fail.
14. [Make the grilled pork skewers] It's too hard to get internal temperature on little bits of pork belly. So you need to trust your instincts a bit. It doesn't take long to cook through. Depending on your fire you could be looking at as little as 3-5 minutes. Could be longer but not crazy long. Be careful. Look at the pictures. Try one to see.
15. [Make the grilled pork skewers] You don't want to overcook them. Pork belly is touchy. You need to cook it until just done. Cook it longer and it gets tough. Really tough. Like I wish I'd braised it tough. Not good.
16. [Make the grilled pork skewers] As you pull the pork belly skewers off the grill give them a good dip in the sterilized marinade.
17. [Make the grilled pork skewers] To serve you can go a few different directions. These skewers make great party food. Serve them with a little of the marinade as a dipping sauce. Maybe put them on a platter and drizzle the marinade overtop. Pass them around like that. Or serve them up as lettuce wraps. Skewers on lettuce with marinade drizzled overtop is good eating.