Sunday Kitchen: Weber Grill Master Laura Romero + Slow-roasted pork belly recipe

Laura Romeo. Photo / Supplied

Laura Romero is the Southern Hemisphere's first and only Weber Grill Master. She's here from Australia and will be demonstrating in-store this Saturday at the grand opening party of Auckland's first Weber Store at 86 Lunn Avenue, Mt Wellington. We find out more about Laura's Sunday kitchen habits.

What does Sunday look like in your kitchen?

Sundays are my favourite day of the week. I usually spend it preparing healthy meals for the week ahead and cooking a Sunday night feast (usually on the indulgent side), all on my barbecue.

With the extra time on a Sunday, I love to smoke and slow cook secondary cuts of meats like lamb shoulder, ribs, beef cheeks and pork shoulder. This allows the fats to render and muscles to soften, the meat becomes incredibly tender, smoky and delicious.

Let's not forget the vegetables- they are incredible on the barbecue too, so you'll find me with an array of them; it may be roasting pumpkin, grilling greens or seasonal vegetables to make an incredible side dish for the Sunday feast or packing the fridge with precooked flavour-packed veges for the week.

Why have you chosen to share this dish?

This dish is beyond a crowdpleaser, it is a dish to impress, surprise and delight everyone's tastebuds. Slowly roasting the pork belly first does take extra time, but it is worth it.

The result is perfect pork belly; soft, tender, juicy meat, fat rendered and of course it has the mouth-watering crunchy crackle.

I love to serve this with a with a simple sour, sweet and tangy apple cider reduction. This dish is perfect for entertaining or a lavish night in. If you're lucky enough to have any leftovers, transform this into a sticky, sweet, soy, Asian pork belly dish for your Monday night (see leftover recipe idea below).

Slow-roasted pork belly with apple cider glaze

2kg pork belly, skin on
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
Apple cider reduction
1400ml apple cider
200ml apple cider vinegar
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1. Ensure your barbecue is clean and free from any grease or debris. Prepare the barbecue for indirect cooking over very low heat (110C-130C).

2. Dry the skin of the pork and score the skin if the butcher hasn't done so already. Score through the rind and just into the fat, about 3 mm deep and at 1 cm intervals. Rub a little olive oil all over the pork. Season and rub salt all over, especially giving the rind a good coating of salt.

3. Roast the pork belly over indirect very low heat, with the lid closed, for 4 hours allowing the meat to become tender, or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches around 80C to 85C.

4. While the pork belly is cooking, make the apple cider reduction. In a saucepan, boil the apple cider, apple cider vinegar and brown sugar together for 45 minutes, or until it has reduced to a syrup, stirring as needed. Best served warm.

5. Once the pork belly has cooked for 4 hours or has reached 80C to 85C, remove it from the barbecue and set it aside. Increase the temperature of the barbecue for indirect cooking over high heat (240C-260C).

6. Return the pork belly to the barbecue and roast it over indirect high heat, keeping the lid of the barbecue closed as much as possible, for 20 to 30 minutes, until the skin has crackled. Remove the pork from the barbecue and leave to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

7. Slice the pork belly and serve with the apple cider reduction.

Leftover idea: Add soy sauce to the apple cider reduction, to make a salty, sweet braising liquid. Add the leftover pork to a small disposable foil drip pan, crackle side up. Fill the dish with the liquid, ideally the meat will be submerged, but the crackle will be exposed. Reheat in an oven or barbecue set up for indirect heat at 200C for 30 minutes to warm through and harden the crackle. Serve with steamed rice and grilled greens (broccolini, bok choy etc).