Poppa's Pork Belly Poke Bowl

Prep the Pork:

• Open the pork bellies, wash, then pat dry. Patting dry is actually an important step, don't skip this!
• Optional - make slight cuts in the skin, don't go nuts on this. Definitely don't make deep cuts through the fat. You need that meat perfectly sealed by the fat so your crackle doesn't get spoiled by steam rising from the meat juices. Think of it as a little knife poke more than scoring and you should be OK
• Season the pork bellies with salt, sugar, olive oil, and freshly ground pepper (both sides). At least twelve twists of the pepper grinder please.
• Store overnight in chiller in an open container for your best chance at the sweet, sweet crackle.

Next Day, Cooking the Pork Belly

• Preheat Oven to 165C
• Place pork in the oven and cook for about 45 minutes. Check internal temp with a meat thermometer - you want this to be a bit above 50C and less than 60C.
• Pro Side-tangent: You are going to see bloggers telling you to cook pork belly for 2.5 hours at 150 - 160.... No. This is ridiculous bunk. They are either AI slop, or they don't know what cut they are cooking, probably a roast. This recipe is for 2 pure pork bellies. They are ~500g each. They are thin. If you put them in the oven and go to the gym, have a coffee and chill for 2.5 hours, you will come back to crispy carbon char and an unhappy family. No sauce can save you.  I suppose this might work with a very low temperature on the smoker or something, but it will not be an easy midweek crispy pork belly meal.
• Back our recipe. If your internal temperature is well below 50C, leave at the lower temp and check again in 15 minutes. Repeat until target temp is reached.
• Increase oven temp to 230C as you move into the high heat, crackle creation stage. Cook until the internal temp reaches 75-80 degrees, about another 12 - 20 minutes.
• You will want to check the temp again at 12 minutes and go from there based on your results.
• It's not the end of the world if you're over 80C, but let's just say the higher you are, the dryer you are. Better have very good sauce if you are over 88C.
• VERY IMPORTANT PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT.  There is no rest for the crackly pork belly. When you are done cooking, you want to be slicing, plating and serving as fast as your hands can handle the heat. If you see a blogger who says to let it rest, unfollow. They know nothing about crackle.   
• Why? The whole point of not turning this belly into bacon is to get the crackle. Resting is the anti-crackle. Every moment you let it "rest", you are uncrackling your pork belly. You have no more than 20-30 minutes before the uncrackling is complete There is no hope for compliments after that pivotal moment. Zilch hope. So time everything else so it's ready when the pork belly comes out of the oven.
• Side Tangent #2:  Neither of us are David Chang. You might see a trendy food blogger incorrectly copying a famous Momofuku pork belly recipe that instructs you to cut off the fat or skin before cooking. Obviously this is not a crackly recipe.  We've eaten this at the restaurant.  It was awesome and would taste great in a bowl like this.  But, it is also a different meal that will require more skill, even though the blogger will tell you it is easy.  Also, I would argue that it will only work if you are actually David Chang. He is pretty fast and loose with the recipes on his podcast, so that copycat blogger is likely missing a key trick or two.  Feel free to try it - new recipes are fun! -  but I was once warned that I am not David Chang, a warning that proved  to be correct. I needed lots of great sauce on hand to get through the result..

• First, cook the rice. We use a rice cooker set for sushi rice and leave it on "Keep Warm" until the rest of the dinner is ready. Something about leaving the rice on the keep warm setting for a while makes it taste better.
• Before you cook, it is definitely worth it to wash the rice. To do this, just put water in your rice bowl, swirl around the rice, and strain. Some people suggest repeating until the water is clear. This could be up to five times. We recommend repeating this at least twice (total of three times).
• Pro Tip - This is not just about cleanliness. The rice cooker assumes you have washed the rice when it gives you those target levels to fill with water based on how many cups of rice you have used. Rice absorbs water while being washed. Skip this step at your peril because who knows what texture your sushi rice will be with the wrong water-to-rice ratio.
• Kid's Tip. When the rice is done, just before serving, our son likes to mix in a small amount of sugar (2T), rice wine vinegar (2T), and salt (1tsp). We tend to like it when he does this, so we're sharing.
• Next, Wash the Greens. Once the rice is cooking, wash the greens in a bowl with cold water. Drain and repeat until you can't feel any grainy specks when you rub your finger along the bottom of the bowl. How long you do this depends on the greens, but don't do it less than twice, even if you feel no grains at the bottom. No one likes dirty greens, even Dirty Clean Food.
• Wash the greens in cold water and leave them submerged for a few minutes. Greens get brighter and healthier in clean cold water.
• Dry the Greens (pat dry or use a salad spinner).
• Chop greens into long strips and season by mixing in a bowl with sesame oil (olive oil OK if preferred), freshly ground pepper, and finely diced garlic and ginger. Leave in seasoning for at least 15 minutes while you finish your other prep. (see below)
• Heat skillet to medium, add cooking oil (we used sesame but olive oil OK).
• When oil is hot, add seasoned greens to hot skillet.
• Cook on medium heat for two minutes.
• Change burner to low, add soy sauce, mix with wooden spoon. After 45 seconds, cover and leave on low to completion (this will depend on preference and which green you are using - for example, spinach cooks faster than kale).

Bringing it Home

• Other Prep. The point of the poke bowl is the fun assembly of fresh, healthy and colorful ingredients right before you eat. Family members can customise their bowl for their preferred mix of ingredients. Remember - The more ingredients you make available, the more other prep work you will need to do while the pork belly is cooking (and before you start cooking the greens). You have ~45 minutes for this work, which is plenty of time to execute other prep and enjoy a glass of wine.
• Pro Tip - TIMING IS EVERYTHING. Your pork belly is going to take about an hour. Your rice is going to take about 40-45 minutes for 2C of white rice in a rice cooker, including the keep warm time, which is essential. Your greens are not going to cook for very long, but it can take some time to wash and cut the ingredients like garlic and ginger.
• You want to try to time everything so you can assemble immediately when the pork belly is done. Season, prep and wash when you want, but don't cook the greens until your pork belly is in or just about to be in the high heat stage. They do not take long to cook, and they'll get worse if they have to linger around waiting an hour on the pork belly.
• Other ingredients. Well, we strongly recommend Spoonful of Goodness Cortido Kraut for its flavor, its vibrant color, and its gut health. You just scoop this purple beauty out of the jar.
• Other recommended toppings include thinly sliced carrot strips, avocado, sliced cucumber and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds and finely sliced green onions.
• Assemble Order: Rice on the bottom. Everything else on top, grouped together like for like so you get a nice colorful bowl. Voila.