You know it is good when they fight over the crackling, and it’s the most popular birthday dinner request. Perfect roast pork crackling success is easier than you think, plus my favourite Miso Caramel Sauce will add an unbeatable sweet and salty umami flavour. Here’s how to cook roast pork with crackling.

Roast pork is one of my favourite meals, but add in crunchy crackling, and I’m halfway to heaven. The perfect pork crackling should sound a little hollow when you tap in on the roast and have a delicious crunch when you bite. The pork inside should be soft and moist. Roast pork with hard, chewy crackle that has more ‘bend’ than ‘crunch’ will leave your guests (and yourself) quite disappointed. These cooking tips will guarantee that your pork crackling will be a cracker! You need two special tools – a hair dryer and a kettle for two steps that make all the difference.

Miso Caramel Sauce is the perfect accompaniment for roast pork.  There’s a subtle sweetness that really brings out the flavour of the meat.  It’s not to tricky to make, just keep a very close eye on the sugar when it is melting.  There’s a printable recipe below.

How to make the perfect pork crackling

Watch the video at the end for step-by-step instructions for the perfect pork crackling.

Top tip – get the best ham glazes and tips on carving and storing your holiday ham

 

Perfect pork crackling

What you need to make perfect pork crackling

  • How much pork do you need? For a bone-in roast allow 250g per person. For six people that means a 1.8kg roast. For a boneless roast (I like a pork loin rolled roast) allow 200gm per person, so for six people you’ll need a 1.5kg roast. These are minimum amounts in my view as there’s nothing better than roast pork leftovers the next day. Also, some people can’t resist seconds when it comes to pork! I prefer to purchase pork from my local butcher, Meat at Billy’s, where I know that it comes from Gooralie Free-Range Pork at Goodiwindi in Outback Queensland.
  • Oil – olive oil works for me
  • Salt  – I like Murray River Salt for this.
The secret to perfect pork crackling
Yield: 16 slices

The Secret to Perfect Pork Crackling

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Additional Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Start preparing your pork the day ahead or at a minimum two hours before cooking so the skin has plenty of time to dry out in the fridge for good crackling.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg rolled port loin
  • olive oil
  • salt

Instructions

  1. Remove all the coverings from the pork and pat the surface of the pork rind dry with a paper towel.
  2. Use a small sharp knife to score the rind finely. Place your roast skin-side up on a rack over the sink or balance it on something in the sink, like four glasses or four mugs. Boil the kettle and pour the boiling hot water all over the rind. The rind will open right up
  3. Use the hair dryer to get it dry. Super dry. Place it uncovered in the fridge for a couple more hours before roasting. Let it dry out in the fridge for at least two hours before you start the next steps.
  4. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
  5. Baste the rind in olive oil and coarse rock salt, and rub it in everywhere. Go hard. The harder, the better. Get the oil and salt in every nook and cranny. Then place it into a baking dis
  6. Cook in a preheated oven at a high temperature for approximately 20-30 minutes or until the crackling blisters and goes hard. After that, reduce the oven to 200 degrees and continue to cook the roast for 30 minutes per kilo. Use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the pork roast periodically.
  7. Remember to rest your pork roast for at least 10-20 minutes after cooking.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 17Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 95mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g

Eatdrinkandbekerry.net offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only.

Cook’s tip

If you sneak a taste of some of the perfect pork crackling in the kitchen when no one is watching, then you officially don’t have to include that in your serving and nor do you have to count those calories.

Miso Caramel Sauce
Yield: 1 cup

Miso Caramel Sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

The perfect accompaniment to roast pork, this Miso Caramel Sauce has a subtly sweet, salty flavour that instantly lifts a meal. Add it to succulent roast pork with crunchy cracking (see my technique), and you have an absolute winner! Make the sauce right at the end while the pork is resting.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
  • 1/4 cup (60ml fish sauce
  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon miso paste
  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger or one teaspoon powdered ginger

Instructions

  1. Add the fish sauce, water, rice vinegar, miso and ginger to a small pouring jug and mix so there are no lumps.
  2. Add the sugar to a medium-sized saucepan and heat over medium heat. You want the sugar to melt, and you will need to swirl the pan occasionally to help keep the melting even. It will take about 8 minutes to become a golden liquid mass.
  3. Take the pan off the heat and carefully (the mix may bubble and boil) add the other ingredients.
  4. Cook again, slowly, for about two minutes.
  5. Pour some over the sliced pork and serve the rest in a pouring jug.

Notes

Just like when you are making caramel, you don't stir this sauce, just move the saucepan around to mix up the sugar, so it melts evenly.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 123Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 629mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 0gSugar: 30gProtein: 1g

Eatdrinkandbekerry.net offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only.

More miso recipes

I’m quite addicted to the flavour of miso and frequently use it as a flavour enhancer in my cooking.  If you love it too, try these recipes.

secret to perfect pork crackling