Cabbage Pasta with Pork Belly | With Crispy Roast Pork Belly

Preheat the oven to 170 °C (conventional top and bottom heat). Rinse the pork belly and pat it dry, then rub the meaty side with part of the fine salt (approx. 5 g), half of the black pepper, and the ground caraway. If using skin-on pork belly, score the skin crosswise at 1 cm intervals with a sharp knife, taking care not to cut into the meat.

Place the pork belly in a roasting pan skin-side up, pour 50 ml of water underneath, then cover with aluminum foil. Roast in the preheated oven for about 70-80 minutes until completely tender. Then remove the foil, raise the temperature to 210 °C (or grill setting), and roast for another 15-20 minutes until the skin and surface turn crispy, golden-brown crackling. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

While the meat is roasting, remove the outer leaves of the white cabbage, cut it into quarters, core it, and shred finely using a coarse grater or a sharp knife. Sprinkle with 10 g of fine salt, toss thoroughly, and let sit for 20 minutes until it releases its juices. Then squeeze out the excess moisture thoroughly by hand.