Hi, I found some marinaded thin sliced pork belly (@1/4") at my local Asian Market. Thought it may be good to try and sous vide them before stir frying to make them nice and tender first. I cannot find a recipe for time and temp for thin slice pork belly. Any recommendations for how to best handle this? Thanks!
Hi CC, when you can’t find a recipe there’s often a good reason and a subtle message. You shouldn’t need to do as you thought.
To best handle this, pat the meat dry, dust it with a little corn starch or rice flour, heat a glug of peanut oil in your wok or heavy skillet as hot as you dare, add the meat and proceed to finish the recipe while stirring frequently.
And enjoy the authentic wok-hay flavour you achieved.
However, if you are determined to twice cook marinated pork belly consider the degree of nice and tender you desire. Since you don’t reveal your favourite SV temperature for pork belly here’s my guess, - just past pink, which is about 140F / 60C.
Meat that thick SV cooks through in under 10 minutes. Use your best judgement on time, but consider that tender is moving towards mushiness the longer you go. Under an hour will suit most people. If you’re uncertain give the meat a one finger pinch as it cooks. You are allowed to check for doneness as it cooks. You probably don’t want to reach the point of doneness where your thumb and finger meet.
Oh, and when bagging thin meat for a SV cook make certain there’s no overlapping so it all cooks evenly.
Do well.