Crispy Pork Belly with Apple, Fennel & Mustard

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork belly, skin scored
• 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 fennel bulb, cut into wedges
• black pepper
• 2 red onions, cut into wedges
• 2 tsp flaky sea salt
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 eating apples, cored, cut into wedges
• 200 ml dry cider
• Fresh thyme, to serve
• Steamed greens, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C. Pat the pork belly skin bone-dry with kitchen paper, then leave it uncovered for 10 minutes while the oven comes up — water on the skin means steam, and steam means leathery skin instead of crackling.
2. Toast the fennel seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 30–60 seconds until fragrant and just darkening — bloomed seeds taste of aniseed and warmth, raw ones taste of nothing. Crush lightly, mix with the flaky sea salt, and rub the lot hard into every score on the skin. Season the underside generously with salt and black pepper too — this is the only chance to season the meat itself.
3. Sit the pork skin-side up in a large roasting tin and roast for 30 minutes, until the skin is blistering and starting to bubble up in places. Don't open the door early — that initial blast is what sets the crackling.
4. Meanwhile, toss the apple wedges, fennel and red onion with the olive oil, wholegrain mustard and a heavy grind of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Reserve the fennel fronds for the table.
5. Drop the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C. Scatter the apples and veg around the pork, not on top — the skin needs to stay exposed and dry to crisp. Pour the cider into the base of the tin, where it'll bubble up around the veg and lift the sticky bits off the bottom as it reduces. Roast for another 50 minutes, until the pork yields easily to a knife tip and the apples are slumping into the juices.
6. In the final 10 minutes, drizzle the honey over the veg and give them a gentle turn in the pan juices so they glaze rather than burn. The skin should be deep amber and shatter at the tap of a knife — if it's stubborn, slide the tin under a hot grill for 3–4 minutes, but watch it like a hawk; it goes from perfect to scorched in seconds.
7. Lift the pork onto a board and rest for 10 minutes — non-negotiable. The juices need to settle or they'll run out the moment you carve. Taste the pan juices now and adjust — a pinch more salt if the cider has knocked it back, a grind of pepper to finish.
8. Carve the pork into thick slices and pile over the sticky apples, fennel and onion. Spoon the cidery pan juices generously over the top, scatter the torn fennel fronds across the lot, and bring it to the table in the tin.