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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 ¼ 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.
Sliced Pork Belly with Honey Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork belly
- ¼ 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
Instructions
How to cook sliced pork belly
- 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.
Honey Garlic Sauce
- Add ¼ 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
We loved it! Found it got better as it sat. Will definitely make this again!
Kristin, so glad you liked it! Thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
Ir came out fantastic! Thank you your sharing.
It was a great and easy recipe. I shared with my friends on FB.
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂 I really appreciate it!!
I cooked this tonight for a little change for dinner! It was delicious and my hubby enjoyed it I used the soy sauce with sesame pot and honey. It was delicious
Made this tonight for dinner, and I must say, I was very impressed!! Very tasty and easy to make. We made double the recipe and it was not enough. Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
Just made this for a main with rice and spinach and it's a new favourite! Crispy, sticky and delicious! Thank you!
Turned out great. I improvised with soy sauce instead of tamari. I think i need to cook this on an outdoor grill next time, the grease splatter was pretty intense. I cooked in a cast iron pan. I used skin-on pork belly and it worked out good.
Turns out to be a favorite! Easy and different- great weeknight meal.
This is my “GO TO” recipe for pork belly. Easy, quick to make. And is simply scrumptious Making today for probably the 6th time since I found this recipe. Thank you Julia’s Album. (I’ve tried numerous other recipes for pork belly in the last few years, this is the winner - by far!)
I’ve used this recipe twice. It is delicious and a hit in my house. Served it with roasted Brussels sprouts and butternut squash.
Julia,
This sounds so good!!! I give it 5 stars and I haven’t even tried it, yet. On my list to cook tomorrow evening.
Hello,
I tried the recipe using the soy, I also tried the recipe using teriyaki, because I am a big fan of teriyaki. I can say both ways were OUTSTANDING. Thank you for the recipe.
Wow this recipe is out of this world for me it's 20 out of 10 thanks for sharing this wonderful dish ☺️
Great little recipe- simple and delicious with jasmine rice. I made a bowl with Napa cabbage, lettuce, carrots and cilantro dresses with a light peanut dressing. Wonderful meal! The pork belly I used was sliced about 1/2 inch thick and strips like bacon. I cut them in half and cooked about 5 minutes per side over medium-high heat using a splatter screen. I cut each half into 6 pieces and let simmer a little too long in the sauce. I was putting the salad components together and waiting for the rice to cook. The thinner, meatier bits got a little dried out. A winning recipe and will definitely repeat!!
I ended up adding some chili paste to counteract the sweetness of the honey, and it turned out delicious! My husband loved it too. Definitely adding this recipe into my rotation!
Oops, forgot to add: 5 stars!
I added Ginger which elevated the taste and I add just two tbls of baking powder to thicken the honey sauce. I also found it easier to deep fry the pork belly.
My next use for this sauce will be on Tempura Shrimp, but I'll be adding pineapple chunks and red dried chilies for a little kick.
Thank you for this dish Julia's Album!
I really wanted this to work out, so I’m sad to leave this review. The sauce flavor was fine- can’t really mess up those ingredients. But the cooking instruction for the pork is all wrong. Un-brined, un-marinated pork belly at high heat, on stove top, for 10 minutes will leave your pork chewy and inedible. Great if you’re looking for pork bubble gum.