Pork Belly

Roasting skin-on pork belly that's been wrapped around a pork loin gives you the best of both worlds: crackling mahogany crust and juicy meat seasoned with fennel, chile, and orange. Start at least 24 hours ahead. First, ask your butcher for a skin-on pork belly that's just long and wide enough to wrap around a trimmed, center-cut pork loin.

You need to start making this dish the day before you serve it, but the crispy, succulent result is well worth the effort.

A candylike sweetness and a crunchy exterior transform these skewers into adult lollipops. Zak Pelaccio, who brings Southeast Asian street food to a restaurant setting at Fatty Crab, explains that the recipe, despite the fact that it takes a long time, is actually quite easy. "You cook it in advance, then you just crisp it, and you know it's going to be good."

We knew Chang was something special the minute we tasted his signature dish. He plays with the classic Chinese pork bun, retaining its pillowy white wrapping, adding crisp cucumbers and scallions, and transforming it into an American original with pork belly. Make them at home, and the first bite will prove they are worth the effort.

The pork belly needs to cure overnight, so start this one day ahead. If you can't find pork belly, use bacon instead. Mix 12 ounces diced browned bacon, 2 tablespoons drippings, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 cup chicken broth, and 1/4 cup dry white wine in large skillet. Bring to simmer; keep warm. Cook pasta; proceed with recipe.

The addictive topping, a potent mix of pork belly, mushrooms, and Chinese rock sugar, takes some time to cook, but you'll love the result.

Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 4 hr In China, northern China in particular, pork belly — fresh (unsmoked) bacon with skin and bones — is cooked just like the rest of the pig. Chef Susur Lee simmers it, then steams it until its fall-off-the-bone-tender. Pork belly is available at Chinese meat markets and some butcher shops.

This recipe calls for Chinese leeks or baby leeks, which are available at some Asian markets. Chinese leeks are thinner and longer than regular leeks, with tubular greens that are edible, like those of scallions. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 2 hr

Braise tender pork belly in soy and vinegar, then grill with shishito peppers and toss with ginger and a tangy dressing for bold, savory Filipino dinakdakan.

There's nothing more soothing than a bubbling pot of sulguk, a.k.a. alcohol soup. This spicy version is brimming with blood sausage, mushrooms, fish cakes, and instant ramyun.

These five spice-scented, melt-in-your-mouth, crispy skin-topped pork belly bites are perfect alone (but sing with a sidecar of hot mustard and hoisin sauce).

Loosely inspired by the flavors of Japanese kakuni, this supple sticky-sweet and salty braised pork belly comes together in just one pot.

In this fiery Indian classic, chunks of pork shoulder and succulent pork belly are cooked until tender in a tangy, spicy chile-vinegar sauce. 

If you can spread peanut butter on bread, you can make these homemade tamales filled with pork slathered in a bright red chile purée. 

Any vegetable or meat would be in good company with this stew’s spicy-funky base of kimchi, gochugaru, and gochujang.

The effort-to-impressiveness ratio doesn’t get much better than this, people. Go ahead and double (Triple! Quadruple!) this recipe and you’ve got hostess gifts, emergency entertaining fodder, and quick, decadent snacks for days.