Pork Belly

Pork belly is a boneless cut of fatty meat derived from the belly of a pig. Pork belly is popular in Asian cuisine, and forms a part of many traditional European dishes such as the Alsatian Choucroute garnie, the Swiss Berner Platte, and the German Schlachtplatte. In the United States, bacon is most often made from pork bellies.

A 100-gram serving of pork belly typically has about 520 calories. The calorie breakdown is: 92% fat (53 g), 0% (0 g) carbohydrates, and 8% (9 g) protein.

This cut of meat is enormously popular in Chinese cuisine and Korean cuisine. In Chinese cuisine, it is usually diced, browned then slowly braised with skin on, or sometimes marinated and cooked as a whole slab. Pork belly is used to make Slowly Braised Pork Belly (紅燒肉) or Dongpo pork (東坡肉) in China (Sweet and Sour Pork is made with pork fillet). Koreans cook Samgyeopsal on a grill with garlic, often accompanied by soju. Uncured whole pork belly has more recently become a popular dish in restaurants in the United States as well.