Grilled Pork Belly (Παντσέτες-στα-κάρβουνα)
May 26th, 2009 | By Peter Minakis | Category: Appetizer, Bacon, BBQ, Greek, Greek Grill, Herbs, How To, Lemon, Main, Meze, Recipes
Today, I’m going to share with you another fabulous, affordable and delicious treat brought to you from the Greek grill.
The subject matter is none other than pork belly. Pork belly comes from the underside (belly) of the pig and it’s used to make bacon, rillettes, confit or a terrine. The Italians make their own version of bacon in pancetta. This underside (belly) is also where side-ribs come from and if you know anything about flavour – you know side ribs (albeit tougher than baby back ribs) have a ton of flavour.
One cannot deny that this cut of pork has fat in it but with some care in choosing your pork belly (look for a leaner cut) and some attention to the grilling, you’ll be delighted to have found another delicious piece of meat to add to your summer grilling repertoire.
My earliest recollection of eating pork belly in Greece is in the early 90′s. There was a bar in in the town where our family’s summer home is and they would throw “BBQ Parties” for the customers. Grilled pork belly was being given out along with slices of bread – all for free. Just as long as you were ordering drinks – the grilled pork belly was for the having.
Pork belly is a cheap cut, likely because it needs some coaxing to be tender but leave it to the Greeks to find a quick and delicious method to grill this cheap yet delicious cut.
In Greece, pork belly is labeled or known as “ΠαντσÎτες” (pantsetes), much like how the Italians call the belly. Butcher shops and supermarkets will carry this very popular pork cut, you’ll have no problem finding and you can be just as sure that a taverna or grill stand will include pantsetes in their menu alongside keftedes, souvlakia, loukanika and gyro.
When ordering or asking for pork belly, ask for the center-cut where each rib has been removed. It should look like a rectangular slab of pork, with the layers of skin, fat and pork meat evident from looking at it’s cross-section.
To turn this tougher yet flavourful cut into grilling deliciousness, one simply has to cut the belly against the grain, on the smaller side of the slab. Cut each slice to about an 1/2 inch in thickness. You need this thickness as there’s alot of fat in there which renders and in the end, leaves you with a smaller but albeit juicy, flavourful and and tender piece of grilled meat.
Be it at the butcher or at home, one has to decide if they want to grill the pork belly with or without the skin. Your butcher can remove the skin (or trim it off yourself) but I like the skin in tact as I adore the three textures one gets when biting into this delicious cut.
Upon taking a bite of “pantseta”, the first sensation is biting into the crackling. The second sensation is the taste of the little fat that’s left in the grilled belly (most is rendered in the grilling) and third and final taste sensation is the tender, flavourful & lean pork meat. The crackling is not for everyone but it’s a MUST for me.
In Greece, pantsetes are served much like a pork souvlaki is…grilled, finished off with some lemon juice and seasoned with sea salt and a sprinkle of Greek oregano. Often, the souvlaki or panteses are served on slices of rustic bread, which acts as a sponge to the juices from the meat. The simply pleasure of good bread with a souvlaki or pantsetes is hard to beat.
Go buy some pork belly and in the meantime, I’ll set up the grill and I’ll show you how I grill “pantsetes” or pork belly.
Grilled Pork Belly (ΠαντσÎτες στα κάÏβουνα)
(makes 1 platter, enough for 4)
1 kg. of pork belly (skin removed if desired)
sea salt
black pepper
fresh lemon juice
dried Greek oregano
- Pre-heat your gas or charcoal grill. You’re aiming for a medium-high heat.
- Cut the pork belly along the short side into approx. 1/2 inch slices.
- Just before your grill is ready, season your pork belly cutlets with some salt & pepper and place on your pre-heated grill.
- Grill over medium-high heat on each side for about 5-6 minutes.
- Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on the pork belly and sprinkle with some sea salt and dried Greek oregano.
- Serve on top of slices of crusty bread, with some Greek fries, a salad and some cold beer.
Important Note: Pork belly has lots of fat but most it renders off in the grilling process. When grilling pork belly, you will get some flare-ups from the fat so DO NOT leave your pork belly unattended while grilling and have a spray bottle with water at hand to flush-out any flare-ups.
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© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis
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© 2009 – 2010, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
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That is seriously good looking pork, Peter!
Mmmmm!
omg! OMG!!! That looks so bleeping amazing, Peter. I’m really wishing you were my neighbor. We could trade your awesome meals for some of my random desserts. And why am I always seeing these posts in the morning?! Totally unfair. Totally. xxoo
Wow. So does the meat have a chance to tenderise then? I’ve always cooked it for a long time, otherwise it comes out tough.
I am not a huge fan fomr pork belly, but made like this i would love to have few pieces, as they look so good.
damn!
I am so ready to sit outside on the deck and just chow this down.
FAB U LOUS!
This looks so delicious… the crackling would be my favorite part :)
I LOVE pork belly. I’m passing this one along to the hubs, as he’s the one who mans the grill. Looks delicious.
Mmmhhh, that looks so flavorful and scrumptious!
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh, Peter! Now I have to get some. The crackling is my favorite part, although the tender meat is so flavorful. I haven’t had it in years.
Mmmmm, pork belly. Good.
Yum – I love pork belly in any form.
Mmmmmm, delicious…this is our favorite summer meat!
This looks so good, I am drooling.
My man would love this one!!! Of course he would also ask for a fried egg!!! My BBQ it’s not ready for the season… Maybe I could surprise him with this this comming weekend ;D. Thanks for the idea :D
I had no idea it could be grilled so quickly, and the lemon and oregano sound fantastic!
Pork belly is a staple when we have a BBQ, but I have never put Greek oregano on it…love to try!!!
Peter, my husband is very good at cooking πανσÎτες on charcoal grill.
So, he has to prove that to you, when you’ ll visit our village house:))
The pork belly sounds fabulous on a grill! I would love to make some but I haven’t seen it in my meat department, will have to look for it somewhere else.
We’ve been in grilling mode lately too…but I have to admit we haven’t tried pork belly yet. It’s a shame because that looks so, so, so GOOD!
Haha, our BBQ has just arrived and assembled on our terrace, I would have to come to your blog for BBQ ideas.
Admittedly, I’ve never cooked pork belly at home…(I wish I had a bbq!) but I am tempted to try this using the griller (broiler). I love that bread is served with this as well!
Peter. YUM! I have no words other than I am craving crispy pork belly now.
wow, that looks like a bit of grilled heaven to me
Absolutely gorgeous.
Have to say though, I’d go for minted new potatoes instead of fries.
But you’re bang on the money with the crackling: there’s almost too much flavor in there.
i’ve never made pork belly but it looks tasty! love the grilling pictures :) they’re cheering my up on the rainy day we’re having here in DC!
this looks as good (maybe better) than the similar stuff we do at the korean restaurant. yours looks cut just a tad bit thicker, which i like. pork belly would be up on my top 10 “death row last meal list”. that’s not depressing at all.
Wow. What a delicious way to prepare piggy. I adore leaving the skin on, but I’ve never grilled pork belly. Needless to say, as a good Southern girl, this must be tried. Pork fat and cracklins rule.
I keep seeing these amazingly tasty look recipes for pork bellies and I have yet to try cooking them. I am definitely going to have to pick some up this summer to try.
These look so moreish and are making me ever so hungry right now. I made sweet ginger pork belly strips last Sunday, however I feel the need to acquire some more pork belly pronto!
I’ve never made pork belly but I know that I would love it.
dark brown – well cooked = that’s the way we like our meat in crete!
Wow – I just love those pictures Peter! That looks soooo good.
Peter (Î ÎÏ„Ïο?)
ΤÎλειο το blog σου, το’βαλα στα boomarks μου κιόλας!
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Souidezes
Peter thanks for the cooking lesson today! I will have to look for this cut of meat. The photos are lovely and I love how you have presented it with the bread and French Fries.
Drool worthy pics there Peter, my dad loved cracklin, I have never tried pork belly but this sure looks like something I would love to taste.
A wonderful cooked belly pork Peter! I do like cracklin to sink my teeth into – yum!
I’m officially in love… with your pork belly!
*wipes drool off keyboard*
This looks so delicious. I want some now. Honestly just the word pork belly makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.
Sadly, there is none to be had in my neighborhood. To find it I’ll have to make a special trip. When I find it, you can bet this stuff is going to be cooked and eaten as soon as it enters the house.
That looks perfect!
I love the photo with the pork belly and the bread making alternating layers. The bread soaking up all those yummy porky juices!
This looks like the perfect BBQ cut. Everything looks so delicious. You described it perfectly, I can almost taste it. I love pork!Geez, I’d go order a few drinks at that bar and enjoy these tasty tidbits. That was a win win situation!
I’m a pork belly novice, so I really appreciate all the wonderful information you provided, Peter. Thanks!
Amazing meal, Peter! I’ve been so curious about pork belly and have been hearing about it everywhere. Thanks for providing all the yummy details. Now I have to figure out where to get it around here.
Wow, Peter this looks amazing! We’ve decided to do our trip to Greece this summer. I can only hope I’ll find something like this to eat while we are there!
I luv pork belly, it’s a sinful pleasure of mine. This looks yum yum!
I don’t eat pork, but this BBQ certainly looks mouth-watering! Tell you what, I’ll let others eat the pork, I’ll just hog the Greek fries ;)
You just gave me a PORKASM! This is he way I would love it all crisp and griiled.
This summer, I am going to try this for sure!
LL
Haven’t tried grilling pork belly yet but the thought of it with lemon, oregano, and salt has me drooling. . .thanks for the tips!
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