Pork Belly Sandwich

About Our Pork Belly Sandwich Recipe Ideas

Many think that because pork belly is the same cut as bacon on a sandwich it needs to be paired with lettuce and tomato, a mayo slathering and there you go.

While this is perfectly alright there is an array of delicious ingredients that synchronize with and can elevate the flavors of pork belly. In this post we present to your attention two delicious versions - a classic American BBQ pork belly sandwich and an Asian pork belly sandwich (read Asian inspired).

Both feature easy to find and simple to prepare fixings and pair perfectly with a cold, crisp beer along the lines of a pilsner.

Most condiments or topping ingredients that go well on a pork sandwich go well on a pork belly sandwich.

The choices are plentiful and easy to mix and match which results in numerous mouthwatering combinations. By way of quick ideas below is a list of what goes well in a pork belly sandwich.

• bread (baguette, Hawaiian rolls, sourdough, the whole gamut...)
• barbecue sauce (including Korean barbecue sauce)
• hoisin sauce (for Asian inspired versions)
• peanut sauce
• cucumber
• carrots
• cabbage (finely shredded, including coleslaw)
• radishes (thinly sliced, especially Daikon radish)
• mayo (including Japanese mayo and flavored versions such as chipotle mayo)
• mustard (including spicy, sweet and otherwise flavored versions)
• pickles (including quick pickled onions or Japanese pickled radish etc.)
• green onions (try this Ginger scallion salsa)
• onion (yellow or red, sweet onion, grilled onions)
• peppers (sweet, spicy, fresh or grilled)
• pineapple
• apple slaw or apple chutney for pork
• fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley, oregano, chumichurri sauce included)
• vinegar (including rice vinegar, etc.)
• dark leafy greens (romaine, crispy kale, etc)
• avocado

....and the list goes on and on. Assemble your pork belly sandwich any way you want! ...But definitely try one of the two ideas presented below.

The best pork belly to use in a sandwich is one that is cooked to perfect tenderness, with an almost silky texture. It would have rendered most of its fat and have a degree of outside crispness either due to slices finished in a pan or on the grates of a high-heat grill, or the presence of crackling (crispy skin).

To that end your options in terms of how the pork belly was cooked include any known method of preparing pork belly.

Think oven cooked crispy pork belly (picture above), smoked pork belly, fried pork belly, grilled pork belly, sous vide or braised pork belly that has been sliced and seared in a skillet.

TIP: You can use leftover pork belly you cooked in any of the ways identified above to make sandwiches. This is an excellent way to enjoy every last bite you prepared.

For the demonstration of the sandwiches in this post we used a grilled pork belly slab which we sliced (picture below) and then quickly seared over hot charcoal grill. Its flavor is rich, the meat juicy and tender and the outside sear appetizing.

Our simple preparation of the cut does not lean towards a specific flavor profile which allowed us to create the two distinctly flavored pork belly sandwich renditions shown further down. We season only with salt, garlic powder and black pepper.

You can follow this Grilled Pork Belly recipe if you want to cook the same style of skinless pork belly. It will look exactly like shown below BEFORE you sear the slices individually.

Another reason we love grilled or oven slow roasted crispy pork belly with a 'neutral' flavor profile is that in terms of the bread choice almost everything works.

When grilling, we always char the bread as shown below, this simple step adds so much to the overall experience.

BBQ Pork Belly Sandwich

For the pork belly sandwich with coleslaw pictured at the top of this post we used freshly baked sourdough bread, coleslaw with mayo and Carolina style BBQ sauce.

The assembly of the sandwich is straight forward as pictured in the image grid below. You start with a toasted slice of bread, top it with coleslaw, lay down the pork belly and brush with barbecue sauce.

Food picks are really helpful here, insert them right before you slice the sandwich in halves.

Other complementary toppings for the BBQ pork belly sandwich include shaved sweet onions, crispy onion rings, sandwich pickles, jalapenos, you could even sneak in a fry or two if you like the idea:)

Asian Pork Belly Sandwich

The Asian ingredients inspired sandwich version below starts with charred baguette halves and features a shaved carrot salad dressed with rice vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds.

For extra crunch we add cucumber slices (they can be seasoned lightly with salt and pepper). To bring together the flavors we use Hoisin sauce and a garnish of chives.

To assemble this version follow the steps shown in the image grid below. If you like thinly sliced pickled ginger you can add a bit to the shaved carrots and then toss together to create the salad.

Both grilled pork belly sandwiches we showed you how to make will work just great with smoked pork belly or oven slow cooked pork belly.

Other Simple Pork Belly Sandwich Ideas

BLT - if you pretend that the pork belly is cured and fully cooked bacon just use your favorite bread, slather it with mayonnaise, add lettuce and tomato slices and then the pork belly.

Vietnamese Bahn Mi - start with fresh baked baguette and add the classic toppings - Vietnamese paté (from pork liver), mayo, julienned pickled daikon radish and carrots, cucumber, cilantro, spicy pepper rings (such as jalapeno) and then stuff with pork belly slices.

Bao buns pork belly sandwich - a bit of work to make the steamed bao (we like David Chang's Momofuku bao buns recipe), but then easy to stuff with pork belly and toppings such as cucumber cut into matchsticks, scallions, Chinese barbecue sauce (Char Siu) and pickled ginger.