Pork belly
Sus scrofa domesticus · Meat
Top 10 pairings
Thick bands of lean meat and creamy fat stripe pork belly, the boneless, fatty slab from the pig's underside. Cured, it becomes bacon and pancetta, and it stars in Chinese hong shao rou and Korean samgyeopsal.
Picking a good onedrag
Freshly cut, greyish-pink, firmOff: tacky or slimy, smelling sour
Counter freshEveryday bestRoast, grill or braise. Mince needs 160°F (71°C). Don't rinse; that splashes bacteria.
ColourPink, a shade duller under lights
Touch the surfaceFirm and moist, nowhere tacky
SmellMild and clean, nothing sharp
These cues are Pork's, and hold across its cuts; where this one differs, its own page says so.