Pan-fried Pork Belly Slices with Honey Garlic Sauce – easy appetizer that takes only 30 minutes from start to finish! This recipe explains how to cook sliced pork belly in a frying pan until crispy and browned. No need to turn on the oven.
Many pork belly recipes require slow cooking or oven roasting the unsliced pork belly for a long time (usually at least an hour). This quick and easy recipe takes only 30 minutes, and that includes the time required to make the sauce!
In this recipe the uncooked pork belly is sliced into thick bites first, and then pan-fried in a frying pan on stove top until the texture is crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. Pork belly pairs exceptionally well with Asian flavors, which is why the sauce in this recipe features ingredients that are commonly used in Asian cuisine: honey, tamari sauce (or use soy sauce), garlic, and toasted sesame seeds.
Pork belly is a very fatty cut of pork, so don’t be surprised at the calorie count below in the recipe box. Make sure to plan a good size side dish, since this recipe doesn’t make much volume-wise, but it’s surely a lot calorie-wise.
What to serve with pork belly
Because pork belly is so rich and fatty, serve it with green vegetables, such as oven-baked asparagus, roasted broccoli, roasted brussels sprouts, or sautéed spinach. Also, mushrooms are good choice, such as oyster mushrooms or regular button mushrooms.
Or, serve Asian-flavored noodles alongside the pork belly. Here are some suggestions:
- Spicy Asian Noodles with Mushrooms and Snow Peas
- Asian Pasta with Broccoli and Mushrooms
- Thai Zucchini Noodles
Pork Belly vs Bacon
Both bacon and pork belly come from the same cut of pork (pork belly). The only difference between the two is that pork belly is fresh meat, while bacon has been sliced, cured, and smoked.
Pork belly looks very much like a very thick slice of bacon, uncut:
Cook’s Tips
- Slice pork belly into cube-like pieces of medium size. These pork slices don’t have to be perfectly shaped as cubes. They also don’t have to be small – keep in mind that cubed pork belly will reduce in size considerably, once it’s cooked.
- Do not add cooking oil when cooking pork belly in the skillet – pork belly is obviously a very fatty cut and it will release its own fat.
- When pan-frying sliced pork belly, use splatter screen to prevent oil from splattering all over the kitchen.
- Start cooking sliced pork belly on high heat but watch closely: reduce heat to medium once the skillet gets too hot.
how to cook pork belly
1) Slice pork belly into small cube-like bites.
2) Add cubed pork belly to a large skillet and start frying on high heat. Do not add cooking oil.
3) Constantly move pork belly slices around the pan.
4) Pan fry sliced pork belly 5 minutes on one side, 5 minutes on the other side until nicely browned and crispy. Total cooking time should be about 10 minutes.
5) Reduce heat from high to medium as the pan gets hot.
6) There shouldn’t be any burnt pieces or burnt pan on the bottom of the skillet.
7) Don’t crowd the pan. Cook pork belly in 2 batches, if necessary.
8) Remove pan-fried pork belly slices from the cooking pan.
9) Remove extra fat from the pan.
10) Make the sauce by combining 1/4 cup honey with 3 tablespoons of tamari sauce, and minced garlic.
11) Heat it up the sauce and cook for about 1 minute.
12) Add back pan-fried pork belly slices. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Side dishes for pork belly
Serve pork belly with green vegetables or side dishes with creamy texture:
- Mashed potatoes.
- Cauliflower “mashed potatoes” – made from cauliflower, without using actual potatoes.
- Scalloped potatoes.
- Grilled asparagus.
- Sautéed spinach.
- Roasted broccoli.
- Oven-roasted brussels sprouts.
Easy Pan-fried Pork Belly with Honey Garlic Sauce - only 30 minutes from start to finish! You'll love crispy pork belly with the Asian-inspired sauce! The recipe explains how to cook pork belly slices in a frying pan on stove top, without using the oven!
- 1 lb pork belly
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tablespoons tamari sauce or soy sauce
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds , toasted
- 2 green onions , chopped
- salt , to taste
- Slice pork belly into small cube-like pieces. Slice off extra fat, if you wish.
Add sliced pork belly to a large pan and start frying on high heat. Do not add cooking oil.
Constantly move pork belly slices in the beginning. Cook them for about 5 minutes on one side on high heat, then 5 minutes on the other side on high-medium heat. Use splatter screen. The total cooking time should be about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, if the pan gets too hot. The sliced pork belly should get crispy and browned.
As you're cooking you might have to reduce heat from high to medium as the pan gets hot. There shouldn't be any burnt pieces and the pan should not get burned on the bottom (I used stainless steel pan). Don't crowd the pan. Depending on the size of your frying pan, you might have to do this in 2 batches.
Remove pan-fried pork belly slices to a plate. Remove extra fat from the frying pan.
Add 1/4 cup honey and 3 tablespoons tamari sauce, and minced garlic.
Heat up the sauce until it boils, reduce heat, and cook for about 1 minute stirring. Remove from heat.
Add 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and stir it in. Add back the sliced pork belly.
Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds on top. Top with chopped green onion, and serve.
I followed the recipe to the letter except for the timing – got the pork belly fried ahead of time because it was for a big staff party. I kept it refrigerated for three days, then mixed the sauce, tossed it with the pork belly and heated it to 170 degrees in a slow cooker and served it with rice. I didn’t get to try any of it – gone before I got to it… 😉 But I learned something about the sauce. I made some to pour over a stirfry from the leftover hot pot veggies later in the week and the sauce gets its creamy texture from cooking with the pork, which makes sense. Great recipe, thanks for sharing! I love having make-ahead dishes that people inhale in record time…I just have to be faster with the chopsticks next time! 🙂
Super tasty and super easy! Great intro to cooking pork belly for the first time. Everyone LOVED it!
Very nice and quick alternative to the traditional slow-roasted pork belly recipes, as you mention, so good job Julia! You also include a lot of info on the belly itself, shrinkage, reasons why not to add oil or overcrowd the pan, etc., and that is good, important background for people who have never experienced this cut. I also love honey in my pork belly dishes, am careful with soy or salt since too much saltiness can ruin a dish, as you know, and often add vinegar (rice or Champagne) to add a certain briskness and create a sweet/sour balance if honey, brown sugar,maple syrup, or other sweet ingredients are utilized. Sometimes it’s fun to add a very small dash of liquid smoke, too. I’d probably serve this over jasmine rice to let the flavors meld and shine through. Your photos are great, by the way. As a side note, I find the price of pork belly creeping up in price as it become more popular and it reminds me of when my great grandmother used to buy and make rabbit, sweetbreads, and beef (“ox”) tails because they were so cheap! Cheers!
Those nutritional values ar a little off, once bacon or pork belly is cooked it gives up the majority of its fat as it melts away. This recipe is amazing too, I doubled the sauce and put it over hand pulled noodles.
Thank you, Tim! I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! Serving this sliced pork belly with the sauce over the noodles sounds delicious!