Siu yuk (烧肉, Cantonese roast pork) is one of the glories of Cantonese siu mei (烧味) tradition — a slab of pork belly roasted until the skin puffs and crisps into a brittle, shattering crackling while the meat beneath remains juicy and tender. The technique is distinct from Italian porchetta or British crackling in its greater reliance on air-drying and the high-heat blast used to puff the skin. A well-made siu yuk crackles audibly when pressed and cuts cleanly without shattering — the crackling should be even, uniformly blistered, and paper-thin.
The preparation: Score the skin of the pork belly with a metal skewer or fork (not a knife — you want small punctures rather than cuts that breach through to the fat). Rub the underside and sides with the marinade: five spice, salt, sugar, garlic, Shaoxing wine, white pepper. Leave the skin completely dry. Refrigerate uncovered overnight (minimum 8 hours) — the air-drying step is essential. The initial roast: Skin-side up on a rack over a roasting tray. Roast at 180C for 25-30 minutes — the meat cooks through and the skin begins to set. The final blast: Increase oven to 240C for 10-15 minutes. The skin will puff and blister dramatically. Watch carefully — overheating produces blackened, acrid crackling. Cooling: Allow to rest 10 minutes before cutting. The crackling continues to crisp slightly as it cools.
Insufficient air-drying: Any moisture on the skin when it enters the oven will produce steam, which prevents the skin from blistering and crisping. Breaching the fat layer with scoring: If scoring penetrates the fat rather than just the skin, the fat renders out onto the skin surface during roasting.
Fuchsia Dunlop, Land of Fish and Rice (2016); Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking (2009)