This perfectly charred, succulent BBQ Pork Belly would be the star of Asian BBQ food scene! You want to pick up bottles of wine and enjoy every moment of the summer breeze with this smokey deliciousness.
Our summertime in Japan was nothing, but a sweet and precious one. Our children had a wonderful time reconnecting with their grandparents. We mostly enjoyed my mom’s simple yet delicious home cooked meals and once in a while we took my parents out to enjoy well-marbled wagyu meat in yakiniku restaurants. One of the things we did miss though is firing up the grill in our backyard, smelling the delicious smoke mixing with the summer air, and watching Mr. JOC with his grilling utensils in action.
Now that we are back in the States and my children have started school, we took advantage of the weekend and grilled up one of our family favorites BBQ Pork Belly with a little extra flare.
How To BBQ Pork Belly
There are many ways to grill the pork belly. Mr. JOC is the grill master of our household and he swears by this technique of using charcoal with Weber Char-Basket Charcoal Briquet Holders. You start off by piling charcoals on one side of the holders. When ready to grill, sear the pork over charcoal using high heat on both sides (~1 min), before moving them over to the other side of the grill with low heat and then slowly grill them with cover on. This gives the meat an irresistible smoky charcoal flavor.
If you get 1/4-inch thick slices of pork belly like I did, I highly recommend using an outdoor grill so that the extra fat will melt off and the finished product won’t be as oily and fatty.
For those of you who live in the bay area, I go to a Korean meat shop in Sunnyvale (check out Angus Meat Market) to get short ribs, pork belly, and other cuts. Their meat quality is amazing and you won’t be disappointed.
Japanese grocery stores sell slices and blocks of pork belly as well. However, the slices are 1/8-inch thickness (like bacon) and they get burn easily with the outdoor grill. You could definitely use it if you plan to cook on the stovetop.
Sometimes you can only find a block of pork belly. But not to worry, you can slice your own (See the tutorial). If you don’t see them at the display, ask the helpful butcher at the counter for pork belly, because it’s often stored in the freezer.
Delicious BBQ Pork Belly Marinade
Most of the ingredients and condiments that are used to make this marinade for BBQ Pork Belly are staples from the Japanese pantry.
The flavor of this marinade is more savory, instead of sweet and spicy. If you like it spicy, you can increase the amount of red chili pepper. If you prefer a sweeter taste, you can add grated apple or Asian pear or more honey (or brown sugar) to the marinade.
Last but not least, it’s important to include grated onion as it tenderizes the bbq pork belly and adds flavors to the marinade.
Not a fan of pork belly or pork? You can definitely use this versatile marinade in beef or chicken.
Wines to Pair with BBQ Pork Belly
Before the best of summer is gone, we wanted to enjoy our meals outdoor as much as possible, with glasses of white wine and rosé in hands of course. For the BBQ pork belly, we paired the dish with Cline Family Cellars’ 2016 Sonoma Coast Estate Grown Pinot Gris and 2016 Ancient Vines Mouvèdre Rosé.
Both wines complemented the pork belly perfectly. The pinot gris was light, refreshing, with hints of pear, honey, and citrus. I really liked the taste because it was not too sweet. The rosé was on the drier side, but equally delicious and bright. With each sip, you can almost taste the sweet fruits of summer with notes of cherries and berries. Both wines cut through the rich and succulent bbq pork belly and that probably made us ate more than we should.
For the price (~$12-15), both wines are fantastic value and I recommend them for a summer party or simply enjoy them at your patio.
I hope you get to try out this recipe and enjoy the remainder of the summer!
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- 2 lb sliced pork belly (¼" or 0.6mm thickness - See Notes)
- ½ onion
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 4 Tbsp sake
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp Ketchup
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 2 dried red chili pepper (chopped)
- freshly ground black pepper
- Grate onion and ginger and add in a medium mixing bowl.
-
Add chopped green onion, soy sauce, sake, honey, and ketchup.
- Add minced garlic, sesame seeds, and chopped red chili pepper.
- Add the pork belly and marinade in the large baking pan or container. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 and up to 12 hours.
- Prepare a hot (450°F / 230°C) charcoal or gas grill fire. Clean and lightly oil the grill grate. For the best flavor, go with charcoal grill. Remove the pork belly from the marinade and let any excess drip off; discard the marinade. Grill the pork belly, flipping once, until done to your liking, about 2-4 minutes total. Transfer to a serving platter. You can pan fry or use cast iron skillet to grill the meat indoor as well.
Sliced Pork Belly: I purchased the sliced pork belly from my favorite Korean meat shop in Sunnyvale. The thickness is ¼ inch and it's perfect for grilling. Previously I was using Japanese pork belly slices, but they are 1/8 inch thickness. It's great for stove top cooking, but when you grill outside, it gets burn easily.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Disclaimer: We received no compensation for the wine review. We received Cline Family Cellars wines from Jarvis Communications, free of charge to use in exchange for an honest review.
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on August 27, 2012. The images, recipe, and content have been updated in August 2017.
Nami, this looks brilliant! I love pork belly and anything you make is wonderful. 🙂
You made me smile when I saw this one, this is my type of dish and can eat it everyday. Its nice to see that the belly was sliced thinly, love it
Dear Nami,
Awesome recipe, the BBQ would give it a beautiful charred flavour and your marinade is definitely a winner.
This is beautiful looking pork belly. I haven’t cooked it on a BBQ before so thanks for introducing me to a new method. I’m so glad your son is going well at school and yes, it always seems to be a bigger adjustment for the mums than it is for the kids xx
Beautiful and tempting BBQ pork belly you have it here, Nami.. wish i can taste some right now, not yet take dinner, hehehe..
Must be a wonderful afternoon snack.
So pleased your son is settling in at school Nami and what a wonderful and flavourful marinade for any kind of meat.
🙂 Mandy
Hey, you beat me with a BBQ post! 🙂 I’ve never cooked or grilled pork belly. I think I can do this!
I’m glad you’re feeling the chill – not here!! But feeling this meal….
theses pork belly look really tempting!;)
That is heaven on a plate.
Best of luck to your son on his first year at school if I’ve forgotten before this. Yes, it sounds like you’ll need to get to bed extra early so as to have the time and energy to do that extra running around.
One of my dad’s favourite memories of cooking the pork bellies is over a fire. Of course, threaded on hand held skewers was more common for the farmers on their way to market with their wares early in the morning. No fancy marinades either. 🙂
One of these days I’ll have to invest in an inexpensive brand of sake for my cooking. In the meantime, I’m using mirin instead.
WOW – this looks soooooooo tasty! I can imagine that the marinate and BBQ flavors are simply perfect. Pinning now. Hope you have a great week!!!
Lovely pork dish, dear! I just had Ramen for dinner earlier. If only I can have these to go with it. Yum!
hehe I normally put it on a skewer before barbecuing. This looks delicious!
Aww, both kids now in school! Kids grow up so fast! I’m sure you will be able to handle the new schedule well. ^_^
Nami, after I eat up your photos, I’ll move onto the pork!
What an incredible recipe! Pork belly is always a favorite. Good luck with back to school, Nami ! Everything will be ok. These are the best years ~ enjoy them with your children, they grow so fast! Thanks for this recipe & the kind comments on my blog. Happy Monday!
Nami… that looks so darn good!! I wish I had an outdoor grill now. 🙂 School starts next week for us… I’m getting ready for the count down.
Your pork belly recipes are not doing my diet any good. 🙂 It’s like you enjoy teasing me knowing exactly what I’m trying to stay away from. It’s okay. In three weeks there will be no restrictions. The first thing I’ll buy at the market is a big slab of pork belly and I’m going to enjoy every bite of it.
Seriously, this is another great recipe. 🙂
Oh wow…you got my stomach to grumble. This looks heavenly and who can say no to grilled pork belly. Your photos are getting better and better….I cannot look at them because I am so hungry right now LOL! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe Nami!
The chill is definitely in the air, and my son starts first grade tomorrow, too! Wow. That summer flew by, didn’t it? It’s only 9 am but I am so craving this pork belly, you have no idea. I so want this for dinner tonight!!
Thanks for sharing such a lovely recipe. Love the marinade and how thin your belly pork is. I have not seen such thin ones here. Thanks very much for sharing your awesome recipes even though you are very busy with your kids. Hope you have enough rest everyday. Yes, sleep early 😀
This looks yummy. I love that I have almost all the ingredients in my pantry (except for the pork belly and ketchup). =D
What a perfect marinade for BBQing – so versatile and tasty!
I feel like we didn’t have enough bbq dishes this summer. This one looks amazing! Would be perfect to end summer with!
Nami, once again you post something from my mental wish list! For once I’m not too sad admiring your marvellous food because I have a pork roast in the oven. OK, I shouldn’t lie to myself. I would give a lot to exchange my pork roast for this marinated and grilled (on a real grill!) belly. It looks fabulous and I’m bookmarking the marinade. (You will laugh but the only reason why I buy ketchup is for my okonomiyaki sauce 😉 This marinade will be another, but still Japanese, reason.).
Gah! I just had my vegan wrap, and now my mouth is drooling over your bbq pork belly!
My mouth is watering – this looks amazing!!!
This looks delicious Nami and your seasonings are simply out of this world! But I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to summer. The warm weather has returned here and I plan on dragging it out as long as possible… ;-). Thank you for this happy weather, bbq inspiration!
This looks so delectable and I don’t think it’s possible for me to slice the pork belly as thin as you!!
Hi Nami,
That is one of the best thing living in the northern part of the state is the autumn breeze and it must be very nice. Did you slice these pork youself? I like how thin they are so it must have cooked really fast. Love the charred marks on those pork belly. I’m drooling. 🙂
~ ray ~
Japanese market sells sliced pork belly (https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/thinly-sliced-meats/). 🙂
This is a MUST MAKE…. noooooooooo, not for me :D. For my boyfriend! Who LOVES pork! 😀
Ok… I saw the headline this morning in my mailbox and I thought no way I’m going now.. and I was right! Who doesnt like pork belly? I guess someone who has not try it.. and that;s the only one.
Your presentation is great Nami. Summer is still here in Canada! so.. dont worry!
Nami – I am new to your blog and just discovered it this past Friday night. Needless to say, I spent the next 4 hours poring thru the site…everything looks so delicious! The photos are beautiful and love hearing little tidbits about your sweet little family. Can’t wait to try everything and can’t wait to see what other creations you make. You have found a devoted reader!
Lovely! I actually use thin slices of beef belly this way! it works 🙂
What a great breakfast for us right now! After one week, we’re already tired of fruit and cereal every morning! I usually do something special for weekend brunch, but we had fruit and cereal this past weekend. This looks like that something special for this coming weekend! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Nami, I’m not sure anyone else could make pork belly look so delicious! I’m wanting some right now and I didn’t even know I liked it!
sounds absolutely finger-licking-delicious… like bacon with a crown and a throne!
I believe this is another one delicious Pork Belly you have just cooked/BBQ! My family and I used to have BBQ but nowadays have totally cut it down due to health conscious for the family.
woohoo, i know i’ve been trying to eat healthy this summer but there is no way I can resist to these perfectly grilled pork bellies! You are making me really hungry right now. The only thing i’d do differently is to slice the belly a little thicker 🙂 Thanks for this great post!
Lovely recipe, Nami: I grill marinated meats about twice a week and shall follow this exactly the next time around: I don’t think my usual one has chillies in it or sesame seeds and I use both a lot! And your son must feel very grownup now: may he make many new friends and settle in quickly!
I don’t have an outdoor grill right now but I think I’ll have to purchase one just for this recipe!
Nami, another utterly delicious looking BBQ recipe! Actually, since pork belly is readily available in stores around here, I should give this a try on the weekend. I am sure that my kids, who enjoy asian cooking, would devour this!
I love pork belly. This recipe looks delicious and fairly easy to make which is lovely! Hope youre enjoying the rest of your summer!
girl I saw this and knew just knew I had to make this soon for my hubs. He is all things bbq and he would be floored to have this over the long weekend. It looks amazing, easy (which is always the best part) and amazing. Love your sauce! Hope the week is off to a good start! So glad for mommy’s day out to begin next week- mommy is in need of a tiny small break even if its for just a few hours a week! LOL!
Hi Nami, this is a great way to prepare pork belly, full of flavour. I hope you are adjusting to your new schedule. What an exciting time for your son!
Yum! One of my favorite ways to enjoy pork belly!
this looks seriously delicious! my mouth is watering for this!
Oh, Nami! I can smell it through my screen! So very good!
Pork belly is so good yet I always feel guilty with all the fat. But such a tasty occasional treat is a must, your look amazing. Changing schedules it always a challenge at first.
Hello friend! How I look forward to cooler days! Ryan adores pork belly (in fact, pork is one of the few meats he eats…odd huh?) And this recipe looks like it would be the perfect treat for him. I can’t wait to give it a go. Thank you for sharing!
The marinade sounds fantastic! I’ll have to see if I can get pork belly around here…I’ve seen it on restaurant menus, but not in the market. But if not, it would be wonderful on pork tenderloins 🙂
YUM. I know i`ll love this!
Gosh, these are my fav and I love the crispy and crunchy bite after the bbq. My other half does not eat pork, so I am going to try with thinly sliced lamb. Makes a great sandwich filling too with some sliced cucumber and chili sauce on top.
Yes I can feel the change in the air too! Hurry up and show us more of these tasty and appetizing BBQed goodies!
Pork belly is one of my favorites, but I’ve never made it at home. I’m going to have to keep this in mind. Good luck adjusting to the new schedules. This will be our first full week. It’s always a shock to the system, but so far so good. Next week we add after school activities too, so that will be another adjustment. I’m so glad your son loves 1st grade so far! That’s great news!!!
I have a terrific butcher that I could ask for pork belly. I can’t say I’ve seen it in the stores other than packaged as bacon. The color on this bbq is totally mouthwatering. My husband would be in heaven!
Nami, this marinade looks so good;-) I like the way you prepared the BBQ pork belly in the thin strips, it just looks delicious! First grade is such a sweet age and a wonderful year in school, it does go by fast so enjoy;-)
I can already feel autumn on its way. The nights are already getting a little shorter. Sigh. I’m going to enjoy as much bbq as I can until then — starting with this glistening pork belly.
Oh Nami, this look so tasty and flavorful, especially when using thin slice of meat…
So you already started to feel the cool of Autumn? Here in Southern CA, still pretty brutal 🙂
Thanks for this recipe and hope you are enjoying the rest of the Summer as well.
Just can’t believe you are already feeling autumn in CA! I can’t seem to let go summer, just yet!
Love the char-ness of that pork belly!
Oh I love pork belly! It’s a pity that your summer is ending, although that is good news since it means our end of of the world is getting closer to summer… I’m really looking forward to some summer bbqs! So great to hear your son is enjoying school too 🙂
Nami, this looks amazing! And the weather is slowly changing although I’m glad of this because we’ll get some warmth again 😀 And a good excuse to bbq this pork belly 🙂
That marinade looks fantastic…so a wonderful flavor combination. I can see many uses for it.
A+ for you Nami!!!
Really nice! I love pork belly, but have never thought to barbecue it. Now that I know the error of my ways, I will! Thanks for this.
that looks delicious! I have had pork belly sandwiches before and they are amazing.
Oh I can definitely see myself making this pork belly all year round!
What a delicious way to prepare pork belly, Nami! I always seem to order it in restaurants but have never made it at home. Thanks for making it look so easy! This is a wonderful recipe.
Yum! love pork and love bbq. This would be great with some cold beer 🙂
Man, pops would go to town on this! We love sangyupsahl (grilled pork belly) and I just LOVE how you prepared yours!
The marinade does sound simple and delicious! Love that you added a touch of sake. 🙂
Looks delicious! Have to try this version of pork belly!
You can NEVER go wrong with pork belly! That looks so flavorful and absolutely divine with all of the marinade ingredients.
Nami, this looks delicious. I really have to get pork belly after seeing this, you temptress! So pleased to hear that your son is settling in at school. Exciting times. Great to hear you’re finally thinking of sleeping more too! Cheers to routine. We’re just back from the US, bit jet-lagged and starting up again next week. All hands to the wheel… goodie.
What a treat! It looks delicious, Nami. The adjustment to the Back to School schedule is tough isn’t it? I’m looking forward to having a little break with the upcoming 3 day weekend.
Hi Nami! This looks so good! I gotta give it a try soon, though probably not with pork belly, since Trinity and I are not accustom to eating fatty meat.
I am not sure whether you are aware of my current situation, the fridge that has not worked for the last month finally got fixed last week, but the water filter has a big gash that was not discovered, so the night the fridge was “repaired”, my house got flooded! Right now we live on concrete floor, the restoration guys had to come in and tear out all of our flooring, we are waiting for insurance adjuster to figure out how much they will pay for, then they will go deal with Samsung (who is suppose to be responsible for the damages). It’s been very interesting.
The good thing is the fridge is cooling properly, so I have been cooking comfort food, and it’s important to have some normalcy when Trinity is back on regular school schedule. She is liking her teacher very much, and this is her first year in the Gifted and Talented program, so the kids in her class are all at similar levels, I am interested to see how she does.
Have a great weekend!
Nami – Oh boy, I know these BBQ pork belly will be such a hit in my household! They actually remind me of the gourmet Chinese-style pork slices we have during Chinese New Year. We often refer it to Chinese jerky or ‘rou kan’. Shen would know:) I like all the sauces/ seasonings you used – absolutely umami-fied! I should include this for my first Chinese New Year menu in the States.
Oooh this looks so good….especially grilled over the charcoal. I can’t help salivating over it…yummo!
I’m glad I came back to see if my comment went through. You know I love your pork recipes and this one is why I need an indoor grill.
Oh my God Nami – this looks so good. Crispy, bbq pork belly! Alas no barbecue here, but I can recreate it with grill pan I suspect. It’s been getting so cold here in the evenings, and it happened all so suddenly too. One minute the evenings were warm and balmy and all of a sudden it’s sweater and blanket weather
Hi Nami,
I’m so glad to hear that your son is enjoying school. It is a big change for you all but I’m sure you’ll find the perfect schedule soon. The pork belly looks really good, almost like bacon:) My mouth is watering so thanks for sharing!
Hubby and I have burnt this in the past, it is nice to find your beautiful recipe! Your marinade sounds amazing, and love the addition of sake. Sounds delicious! Hugs, Terra
YUM 😀 this reminds me of the slices you get at Korean BBQ. Love it!
This is on my to do list. I also shared the recipe with my newsletter readers this month – http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=9bc1b5f1c2c1cb8a98f1f3ad5&id=61665afde9&e=5bdcd0f2e5
Yum yum yum that looks so good. I can’t get enough of pork belly. But unfortunately, pork belly isn’t sliced so thinly here in Kuching.
Still, I think I’ll give it a go!
Thanks for sharing.
I’ve decided that every time I make one of your recipes I will post to let you know how it went! 🙂 I had thinly sliced tenderloin in the fridge and was looking for a recipe to use. Picked this, but since I had 2 lbs to work with, I took the easy way out and used the blender for the onion, garlic and ginger. 🙂 I used 4 times of everything but 3 times the liquids. It was snowing outside in Montreal so I used my cast iron grill. It turned out fabulously! Thanks for an amazing recipe!
Hi Angie! I’m terribly sorry for my late response. I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and it’s great that you adapted this recipe very well! Thank you so much for taking your time to write a feedback, and I truly appreciate it! 🙂
Isn’t that called bacon? 🙂 Nice site!
Hi Mike! It does look like bacon but it’s not bacon. 🙂 This is just thinly sliced pork belly. American grocery stores sell big chunk of pork belly (usually they keep it in freezer, so you have to ask or order in advance) but Japanese supermarket sells these pre-sliced pork belly as well as big chunk of pork belly. Thank you for visiting and for your kind words. 🙂
This sounds super tasty and I was wondering if it would work well as a marinade for a boneless Boston pork butt joint I have? It’s about 3 lbs. thank you in advance! 🙂
Hi Diana! I haven’t tried the meat with this recipe before. Hope it will work. You will need to marinate for longer time. 🙂 Hope it will be tender and delicious. Fatter piece will for the recipe. 🙂
I bought sliced pork belly at hmart and I’ll be making this for dinner tonight. Thank you! Just what I needed.
HI Elisa! Hope you enjoy(ed) this recipe! 🙂
This looks delicious! Does this work on normal pork? I’all try it as soon as the grocery stores open again after Harvey leaves
Hi Erin! Oh no, I hope you and your family are safe. I recommend fatty pork parts. 🙂 Please take care, Erin!
LOVE pork belly! Such a wonderful flavor. This recipe looks terrific — and yes, you’ve made me hungry. 🙂 Thanks!
I love korean short ribs and gogi
Me too! 🙂
I recently subscribed to your site and I am so happy I found you! I have an ignorant question. I hope you don’t mind helping a novice Asian cooking enthusiast. Is port belly the same as thick sliced bacon? Is it also the same as what we call “fat back” in the South? This too comes in blocks or slabs. However, in the above picture, it looks like the port belly is much more meaty. Thanks for any help.
Hi Linda! Welcome to JOC! I’m happy that you found us! Thanks for asking, a lot of people have the same question here. From googling, I realized that fat back has thick fat, too. Pork belly has more pink meat area with a little bit of fat on top, right under the rind/skin. So if you slice the pork belly, it looks like bacon. Bacon is already processed, but pork belly is the part of the meat before processing. In Asian cooking, we often use this fatty pork belly piece. Do you think the butcher knows how to prepare this part? Basically, ask for pre-bacon block. In the Asian supermarket, we often can buy thinly sliced or block as our recipes use both types. Hope this helps!
We are a keen eater of ramen, do you have a recipe for making the thick yellow noodle for ramen?
Hi Sim! I’ve never made the ramen noodles… maybe one day I’ll challenge myself to make it. Thank you for your request. 🙂
Hi Nami
Do I have to modify this recipe if I’m using Hokkaido pork loin for yakiniku? I’ll be using cast iron grill pan on gas stove. Your recipe looks delicious!
Hi Josephine! The pork loin is lean (less fat). It tends to get tough easily from cooking it, so do not overcook it. In Japan, if it’s good quality pork, we don’t always marinate it (ruin the original flavor). Your “Hokkaido” pork loin sounds precious, so you may want to decide if you want to marinade… The marinade also burns the food easily, so I may cook the pork perfectly, and right before it’s about to finish pour the sauce to coat it. That would be my suggestion. 🙂