Roasted Pork Belly With Orange And Star Anise

Ingredients

• 2 kg skin-on pork belly, in 2 pieces and skin scored
• 7 oranges, halved
• 500 ml orange juice
• 500 ml dry white wine
• 100 ml olive oil
• 1 garlic bulb, cloves peeled and crushed
• 15 g thyme, chopped
• 15 g rosemary, chopped
• 180 ml balsamic vinegar
• 160 g clear honey
• 10 star anise
• Fine sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to its maximum setting, usually 240°C/220°C fan/gas 9. Sit the orange halves cut-side up across the base of a large roasting tray; they're the rack the pork sits on, and they'll catch every drop of fat that renders out.
2. Pulse the thyme, rosemary, garlic and olive oil in a food processor to a rough, fragrant paste.
3. Lay the pork belly skin-side down on top of the oranges. Season the flesh generously with salt and pepper.
4. Flip the pork carefully so the skin faces up, resting on the oranges. Pat the skin bone-dry with kitchen paper. The salt draws moisture out as it roasts; that's how you get shatter, not chew.
5. Roast at the top temperature for 1 hour, turning the tray halfway. The skin should be deep gold and starting to firm up, the kitchen smelling of pine and citrus, and you'll hear the fat starting to crackle in the tray.
6. Drop the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/gas 3. Pour the white wine and orange juice into the tray, keeping the liquid well away from the skin; the wine and juice braise the underside while the skin stays dry on top. Roast for another hour. If the skin colours too fast, tent it loosely with foil.
7. Drop the oven again to 110°C/90°C fan/gas ¼. Roast uncovered for a final hour; this is when the skin dries out completely and shatters into proper crackling. Tap it with the back of a spoon; it should sound hollow, not soft.
8. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Tip the balsamic, honey and star anise into a heavy-bottomed pan and simmer over a medium heat for 8–10 minutes until glossy and syrupy enough to coat the back of a spoon. Spoon a ladleful of the reserved roasting juices into the glaze and swirl it through. Taste it: it should be sharp, sticky, and properly seasoned.
9. Lift the pork onto a board and rest for 15 minutes; you should hear the crackling tick as it cools. Carve into thick slabs, plate with the roasted orange halves alongside (squeeze one over the meat as you serve; the warm citrus juice cuts straight through the fat), spoon the warm glaze over, and finish with fresh thyme sprigs, flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper. Rest the pork before carving so the juices stay in the meat.