Spicy Pork Belly in Air Fryer

This Spicy Pork belly in Air Fryer recipe is one of my favorite pork recipes ever! The taste is amazing!! It creates a flavor explosion in your mouth! Even the aroma is amazing! If you love pork dishes, you are absolutely going to love this recipe. It's super easy to make with very little prep time and 15 minutes of unattended cooking time in the air fryer. What more can you ask for?

To give you a quick overview, this is how I do it. I marinate the pork belly with a few basic Asian sauces and then mix it with a wonderful spice blend that you can easily make at home. And then air fry on high heat for about 15 minutes until the outside is sizzling and the pork pieces are cooked all the way through.

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Ingredients/Equipment Info

Pork Belly

You need a piece of pork belly with a good ratio of meat and fat. I use skinless pork belly for this. If you have skin on the pork belly, remove the skin before cooking. The skin usually turns a little hard and it shrinks so skinless pork belly works better for this. You can later make some crispy pork skin with it so don't throw it away.

Asian sauces

I use soy sauce and oyster sauce for the recipe. These sauces add that umami depth of flavor and also act as a binding agent for the spices.

Chinese cooking wine

Helps to get rid of the meat smell. It also adds a unique flavor. You can use dry sherry as a substitute. Chinese cooking wine is available on amazon and also very commonly available in Asian grocery stores.

Oil

A little bit of oil helps to keep the meat pieces separated and make them fry better in the air fryer.

Spice Mix

The spice mix is very easy to make with crushed cumin seeds, red pepper flakes (chili flakes), sugar, Chinese five spice, and sesame seeds. Cumin and Five spice powder add a nice aromatic peppery flavor. Red chili flakes add color and heat to this spicy pork belly dish. I like to use Korean red pepper flakes because it's fine in texture, redder in color and also don't contain seeds. But you can use regular chili flakes as well. Sugar helps to balance out the flavor of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Since we only use a very little bit in the recipe, it won't make the dish sweeter. And I also use sesame seeds to add a nice nutty flavor to pork.

Air Fryer

I use the COSORI 6.8Qt Air Fryer which can perfectly fit 1 lb of sliced pork belly. If you have a smaller air fryer you may have to fry them in batches.

Cooking spray

This is optional but I like to spray my air fryer with a little bit of cooking spray to prevent the food from sticking. I use this Avocado oil spray.

Recipe Video

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Air Fryer Cooking Time for Pork Belly

The cooking time depends on the thickness of the pork belly slices, Air fryer brand, model and size and many more factors. Not every air fryer is made the same. In my Cosori air fryer, it usually takes me about 15 mins without any preheating. I turn the pork pieces every 5 minutes to ensure even cooking. This might differ in other air fryers. It might cook slower or it might cook faster. Check the meat in about 13 minutes and then cook the meat as needed.

Serving Ideas for Spicy Pork Belly

I love to serve this air fryer spicy pork belly as a side for my pineapple fried rice , thai fried rice or chicken fried rice

It also goes well with jasmine rice, some steamed veggies or fresh lettuce/cucumber, and a sauce of your choice such as this bang bang sauce to make a great rice bowl.

This spicy pork belly makes amazing lettuce wraps as well.

Great as a ramen or noodle topping.

Makes a great appetizer for a party.