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1
Season the pork belly cubes generously on all sides with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer on a tray, cover, and refrigerate for 12–24 hours. The cure is complete when the surface of each cube feels slightly tacky and the seasoning has penetrated throughout.
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2
Remove the cubes from the refrigerator and allow them to approach room temperature. Place them in a single, uncrowded layer in a heavy pot or cocotte. Pour in just enough cold water to cover the bottom of the pot — no more. Set the pot, uncovered, in an oven heated to 140°C. The water is exhausted and the pot smells of clean rendered fat, not scorched meat, within the first 30 minutes: this is the signal to proceed.
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3
Continue cooking at 140°C for a total of 3–4 hours, turning the cubes occasionally so that all surfaces make contact with the rendered fat pooling in the pot. This is where the dish lives or dies: the oven must stay at 140°C throughout — too high and the exterior chars before the interior renders; too low and the cubes stew rather than confite. At the end of the third hour, remove the lid or any covering and baste the cubes with their own fat every 20 minutes. The rillons are ready when the exterior is a deep mahogany brown on at least three sides and the fat has rendered visibly clear into the pot.
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4
Lift the rillons from the pot with a slotted spoon and drain on a rack or absorbent paper. When pressed lightly with a fingertip, each cube yields with a yielding resistance — the layers of lean and fat remain distinct and moist, not collapsed. The exterior is firm and caramelized; the interior is not.
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5
Serve warm or at room temperature — never cold from the refrigerator, where the fat solidifies and the texture suffers. Arrange on a board alongside cornichons and Dijon mustard. When cut, the striations of lean and fat must be clearly visible in cross-section: this is the final confirmation the cook needs.