treateater lunch, Main Dishes, Pork Dishes

Easy Air Fryer Pork Belly Bites

Jump To RECIPE

Pork belly is my guilty pleasure. I just love the taste of well-seasoned pork with a crisp skin. This is most probably due to my Filipino roots, where spit roasted pork, or “lechon” as it is called in Tagalog, with its crispy crackling was the feature of many Filipino parties growing up. Now, I’ve never mastered the complexities of producing crispy crackling in the oven (let alone on a spit), however I have discovered that I can produce something similar using my air fryer.

This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission on any purchases made via these links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE!

Subscribe to receive email updates:

Key Ingredients

(see below for full list of ingredients)

  • Pork Belly: I use pork belly strips from the supermarket and cut them up into bite size pieces, around 1.5 cm to 2 cm thick.
  • Garlic Powder: Gives the pork a rich savoury flavour.
  • Salt: This brings out the flavour of the meat and the garlic. If you will be drizzling sauce over the pork then use less salt, around 0.25 tsp of salt should do.

How To Make Easy Air Fryer Pork Belly Bites

Step One: Pre-heat air fryer at 200 °C (400 °F) for 5 minutes. I use my trusty Ninja Air Fryer for this.

Step Two: Use kitchen roll to pat 500 g pork belly slices dry.

Step Three: Cut the pork into bite-size pieces roughly 1.5 – 2 cm thick.

Step Four: Add the pork belly bites to a large bowl and mix in 1 tsp garlic powder, 0.25 tsp onion powder, 0.25 – 0.5 tsp salt and 0.25 tsp black pepper.

Step Five: Spread the seasoned pork bites on the crisper tray in the air fryer pan.

Step Six: Air fry for 5 minutes at 200 °C (400 °F) . Use tongs to turn the pork over. Air fry again for a further 5 minutes. If you would like the pork to be super crispy then you can turn the pork over again and air fry for a further 5 minutes.

How To Serve Easy Air Fryer Pork Belly Bites

  • This can be served as a main dish with rice, as a topping for a salad, or as an appetizer.
  • Drizzle with hoisin sauce.

Tips for Making Easy Air Fryer Pork Belly Bites

  • For an extra crisp pork, ensure that the meat is as dry as possible before seasoning. To do this pat the pork belly slices with kitchen roll.
  • There is no need to add oil to the pork. It will release it’s own fat during the cooking process.
  • You can add a little water to the bottom of the air fryer pan before placing the crisper tray over it. The water will prevent the fat and any other juices released by the meat from smoking.

Easy Air Fryer Pork Belly Bites Recipe

Serves:
4		Preparation Time:
5 minutes		Cooking Time:
10 – 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 500 g pork belly slices
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 0.25 tsp onion powder
  • 0.25 – 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.25 tsp ground black pepper

METHOD

  1. Pre-heat air fryer at 200 °C (400 °F) for 5 minutes. I use a Ninja Air Fryer.
  2. Use kitchen roll to pat the pork belly dry.
  3. Cut the pork into bite-size pieces roughly 1.5 – 2 cm thick.
  4. Add the pork to a large bowl along with the rest of the ingredients (garlic powder, onion powder, salt and black pepper). Mix well.
  5. Spread the seasoned pork bites on the crisper tray in the air fryer pan.
  6. Air fry for 5 minutes at 200 °C (400 °F) . Use tongs to turn the pork over. Air fry again for a further 5 minutes. If you would like the pork to be super crispy then you can turn the pork over again and air fry for a further 5 minutes.

NOTES

  • Serve drizzled with your preferred sauce – I love this with hoisin sauce.
Advertisement
treateater Entrées, lunch, Main Dishes, Pork Dishes, Snack

Sticky Hoisin Ribs

Jump To RECIPE

If you are a fan of ribs and are awaiting barbecue season, then this oven baked ribs recipe is one to try. Tender, fall of the bone meat with a sticky, sweet and salty hoisin glaze. These ribs are always a hit with my family. The ribs are first brined in the fridge. Then they are steamed in the oven before being slathered in hoisin sauce and caramelised to perfection.

This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission on any purchases made via these links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE!

Subscribe to receive email updates:

Key Ingredients

(see below for full list of ingredients)

  • Pork Ribs: I get these from my local supermarket and they come cut into individual ribs (as opposed to the whole rack).
  • Salt: This is the key ingredient for making a brine. Brine is basically a solution containing salt and water. It can also contain herbs and spices for extra flavour. Meat can be soaked in brine and this causes the meat to absorb the water. In this recipe soaking the ribs in a salt-water-spice solution adds depth of flavour and the salt also makes the meat on the ribs more succulent.
  • Hoisin Sauce: I personally love Lee Kum Kee hoisin sauce. It has a lovely sweet and salty flavour with a hint of garlic. It’s quite concentrated, so a little goes a long way.

How To Make Sticky Hoisin Ribs

Step One: Add 3 cloves garlic minced, 1 tbsp onion powder, 2 tsp salt and 1.5 tsp brown sugar to a medium sized baking dish. Add enough water to just add a layer of liquid to the bottom of the dish and mix well until the sugar and salt has dissolved.

Step Two: Add in the ribs and make sure they are coated in the liquid. Top up with warm/room temperature water such that the ribs are completely submerged in liquid.

Step Three: Cover with clingfilm and place the baking dish in the fridge for 2 hours to over night.

Step Four: Preheat your oven to 180 °C fan (200 °C conventional/Gas Mark 6/400 °F).

Step Five: Transfer the ribs to another baking dish and cover with foil. Discard the brine. Bake the ribs with the foil on for 40 minutes. Increase the heat to 200 °C fan (220 °C conventional/Gas Mark 7/425 °F).

Step Six: Brush the ribs all over with half of the hoisin sauce (50 g) and return the ribs to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

Step Seven: Brush the ribs all over with the remaining (50 g) of hoisin sauce and turn the ribs over. Cook for another 10 minutes until the ribs are starting to go brown and the sauce begins to caramelise.

How To Serve Sticky Hoisin Ribs

  • For a Chinese style meal serve with stir fried noodles and vegetables, or fried rice.
  • Ribs are a great addition to a fakeaway – sometimes I also cook ribs on pizza night.

Tips for Making Sticky Hoisin Ribs

  • The brine really does add flavour to the meat. Even if you only have enough time to brine the ribs in the fridge for an hour do not skip this step. Brining the ribs over night is more ideal.
  • These can also be cooked on the barbecue. Just follow the steps to when the ribs are steamed in the oven (Step 5) and then finish the ribs off on the barbecue.

Sticky Hoisin Ribs Recipe

Serves:
4		Preparation Time:
5 mins
(plus 2 hours to over night for brining)		Cooking Time:
1 hour

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp brown sugar
  • hot water and warm water
  • 700 g pork ribs
  • 100 g Hoisin sauce

METHOD

  1. Add the garlic, onion powder, salt and sugar to a medium sized baking dish. Add enough water to just add a layer of liquid to the bottom of the dish and mix well until the sugar and salt has dissolved.
  2. Add in the ribs and make sure they are coated in the liquid. Top up with warm/room temperature water such that the ribs are completely submerged in liquid.
  3. Cover with clingfilm and place the baking dish in the fridge for 2 hours to over night.
  4. Preheat oven to 180 °C fan (200 °C conventional/Gas Mark 6/400 °F).
  5. Transfer the ribs to another baking dish and cover with foil. Discard the brine. Bake the ribs with the foil on for 40 minutes. Increase the heat to 200 °C fan (220 °C conventional/Gas Mark 7/425 °F).
  6. Brush the ribs all over with hoisin sauce and return the ribs to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
  7. Brush the ribs all over with a second coat of hoisin sauce and turn the ribs over. Cook for another 10 minutes until the ribs are starting to go brown and the sauce begins to caramelise.
treateater Brunch, Chicken Dishes, Entrées, lunch, Main Dishes, soup

Turkish-Style Yoghurt Soup with Chicken and Wild Rice

Jump To RECIPE

This rich chicken soup contains yoghurt and shredded chicken for protein, hearty wild rice and a delicious paprika garlic butter. I first tried this at one of my local Turkish restaurants. I loved it, and knew I had to learn to make it myself. It’s such an easy soup to make. Great for lunches, or when you’re feeling under the weather, and it also makes an impressive starter.

This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission on any purchases made via these links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE!

Subscribe to receive email updates:

Key Ingredients

(see below for full list of ingredients)

  • Chicken Fillets and Chicken Stock: The base of the soup is chicken stock. The shredded chicken meat makes it more fulfilling.
  • Egg Yolk and Yoghurt: Add a slight thickness and creaminess to the soup, though it’s not as creamy as most british soups which normally contain cream. The yoghurt also adds a slight tanginess which works well with the paprika and garlic.
  • Wild Rice: The rice gives this soup more substance and makes it really hearty. Traditional recipes use white rice however, I use wild rice in my version as it has a slight nutty flavour that balances well with the rest of the soup flavours.
  • Paprika Garlic Butter: Think of this as a soup garnish, but it gives the soup flavours more of a wow factor and adds a lovely red/orange colour to the soup.

How To Make Turkish-Style Yoghurt Soup with Chicken and Wild Rice

Step One: In a small saucepan bring 240 ml water to the boil. Add in 90 g wild rice and lower the heat. Simmer with the lid on for around 50 minutes until the rice is cooked.

Step Two: In the meantime add 1 tbsp olive oil to a large saucepan on a medium heat add one medium onion diced and cook for around 5 minutes until softened.

Step Three: Add in one carrot diced and cook for a further 3 minutes.

Step Four: Add in 500 g chicken thigh or breast fillets, along with 1 litre chicken stock, and simmer for 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Step Five: Drain and remove the chicken fillets. Use two forks to pull the meat apart so that it is shredded. Set aside.

Step Six: Strain the chicken stock. Discard the carrot and onion.

Step Seven: In a large bowl add in 240 ml plain yoghurt, one egg yolk and 2 tbsp plain flour. Whisk together until smooth.

Step Eight: Spoon the chicken stock into the yoghurt-egg yolk-flour mixture around 2 tablespoonfuls at a time to begin with and whisk thoroughly. Gradually add in more and more stock until all the stock has been incorporated. Really go slow with this step so that the egg doesn’t curdle.

Step Nine: Add this mixture back into the saucepan along with the shredded chicken and cooked wild rice. Simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Step Ten: Make the paprika garlic butter. In a small frying pan heat 2 tbsp unsalted butter over a medium-low heat. Add in 3 cloves garlic crushed, 2 tsp paprika and 0.25 tsp cayenne pepper. Fry for around 3 minutes until the garlic starts to go brown.

Step Eleven: Either add the paprika garlic butter mixture to the rest of the soup and stir in, or dish the soup into four bowls and drizzle decoratively with the paprika garlic butter.

How To Serve Turkish-Style Yoghurt Soup with Chicken and Wild Rice

  • This can be eaten as a meal on its own.
  • You can also serve this with crusty bread.

Tips for Making Turkish-Style Yoghurt Soup with Chicken and Wild Rice

  • You can substitute white rice (basmati or long grain) for wild rice. In fact this is a great dish for using up leftover cooked rice.
  • You can also substitute the chicken fillets with cooked chicken (like left over roast chicken), just add the cooked chicken in at the end with the rice.
  • Be sure to add the stock to the yoghurt-egg yolk-flour mixture very gradually to prevent the egg from curdling. Really be patient with this step – it’s totally worth it.
  • You can also make this dairy free by substituting the yoghurt with oatgurt, and you can substitute the butter with olive oil.
  • If making this as a cold and flu remedy add in an additional 2 crushed cloves of garlic at Step Four when the stock is added to the pan.

Turkish-Style Yoghurt Soup with Chicken and Wild Rice Recipe

Serves:
4		Preparation Time:
10 minutes		Cooking Time:
55 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 240 ml water
  • 90 g wild rice
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 1 carrot diced
  • 500 g skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets
  • 1 litre chicken stock
  • 240 ml plain yoghurt
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 0.25 tsp cayenne pepper
  • salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

  1. Bring the water to the boil, add in the rice, then turn down the heat to a simmer. Cook the rice with the lid on for 50 minutes.
  2. In the meantime add the olive oil to a large saucepan and heat on a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for around 5 minutes until soft.
  3. Add the carrot and cook for a further 3 minutes.
  4. Add in the chicken and the stock. Cover with lid and simmer for 25 minutes.
  5. Remove the chicken fillets and use two forks to pull the chicken apart shredding the meat.
  6. Strain the stock. Discard the onions and carrot.
  7. In a large bowl add the yoghurt, egg white and flour, and whisk well until smooth.
  8. Spoon a little stock into the yoghurt-egg-flour mixture and whisk. Gradually add in more and more stock whisking well until the mixture becomes more liquid and all the stock is incorporated.
  9. Add this back into the saucepan with the shredded chicken and cooked rice, and place on a low heat to simmer for a further 5 minutes.
  10. Heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium-low heat. Once the butter has melted add in the garlic, followed by the paprika and cayenne pepper.
  11. Add this paprika garlic butter mixture to the rest of the soup. Stir and serve.