How to make pork belly with mushroom, red onion and cider

In a baking pan big enough to fit your pork make a bed out of the chopped mushrooms, red onion and garlic

Place the pork on top and pat the fat dry with kitchen towel, then using your hand rub the salt into the scored fat using as much as you like depending on how salty you like crackling

Pour the cider into the pan and then add the two tablespoons of honey. Make sure not to get any of the cider on the fat or it will be harder to crisp

Cook uncovered in the middle of the oven at 180 for an hour, stirring the veg and juices every 20 minutes or so

After an hour or so it should look like this :)

Cut the crackling fat off of the top of the pork and transfer it to a separate tray

Cover the pork meat with tinfoil and return to the oven on the bottom shelf, this is to stop the pork drying out

Place the baking tray with the crackling on the top shelf of the oven and turn it up to 225 (your crackling may need more salt rubbed in at this stage)

After 20 minutes give the meat juices a stir and layer some of the veg on top to keep all of the meat moist

After another 45 minutes remove the meat from the oven and set aside under tinfoil to rest

Place the tray with the veg, cider and juices onto the hob on a medium heat and bring to a gentle boil

Check on your crackling, it should be done by this point, I like to put a splash of the juices on top to keep it moist

Add a teaspoon of mustard and thicken the sauce by adding corn flour a teaspoon at a time until it is close to a gravy consistency

Now plate all of the components and cover with the gravy :) here I've paired it with roast potatoes and my rosemary and honey carrots which you can find on my page as well!