The Aluminum Foil Hack That Ensures A Perfectly Cooked Pork Belly

Nothing is quite as satisfying as biting into a piece of crispy pork belly with a perfectly crackly outer layer and juicy, tender meat on the inside. Achieving the right texture is definitely a skill, especially when you're a home chef. Moreover, if you've ever had rubbery or chewy pork served in your banh mi or stir-fry, you know the stakes are high. Luckily, there are some great hacks out there that ensure excellent pork belly every time. One of the best involves aluminum foil, which is no doubt already sitting in your pantry.

Balling up pieces of aluminum foil and placing them under your cooked pork belly before broiling ensures that the top layer crisps up evenly, giving you the bubbly and crackly skin everyone loves. Pork belly skin can often be uneven, or it can shrink in some places after being roasted, creating problems. This trick brings any dips back up in your pork belly and lets the heat from your oven or air-fryer circulate most effectively, thus performing its crackling magic.

When placing aluminum balls under your pork, make sure you're placing them directly under any areas that have dipped down, or under one side if it's visibly lower. Check to see that the pork belly looks even in height, adding more aluminum under any places that still have dips. Take note: Buying a cut of pork belly which is as even as possible will mean fewer dips to fix, so keep an eye out at the butcher.

While there are some foods you may want to avoid cooking with aluminum foil, pork belly isn't one of them. In fact, this pantry staple can also help keep the meat in your pork belly from drying out. When the skin crisps, the rest of your pork belly will already be cooked. To keep the meat tender, place a layer of aluminum foil under your pork before you start evening it out with aluminum balls. This allows you to simply wrap the sides of your pork before placing it back in the oven, so that it resembles an open box. The foil covers the meat, keeping it nice and juicy. Impress your guests (or yourself) by adding the resulting pork belly to a soba noodle salad or stir-fry, and listen for that delightful crunch.