Slow-cooked, Wadadli-spiced Cubano pork belly

Ingredients

• 175ml Olive Oil
• 4 tablespoons Coriander
• 4 tablespoons Parsley
• 6 tablespoons Oregano
• 6 tablespoons Mint
• 2 Red Chilli
• 1 Green Chilli
• Zest and juice of 2 Orange
• Zest and juice of 2 Lime
• Juice of 1 Grapefruit
• 40g Garlic
• 3 tsp Ground Cumin
• 2 tablespoons Ground Allspice
• To taste Salt
• To taste Black Pepper

Steps

1. Blitz all the marinade ingredients in a food processor or with a hand blender. Lay the pork in a large dish, pour over the marinade, then turn the meat in the mixture, rubbing in the marinade all over and making sure every bit of the belly is coated. Cover the dish and leave overnight in the fridge.
2. The next day, heat the oven to 140C (120C fan)/275F/gas 1. Lift the meat out of its marinade (don’t wipe off any that sticks to the joint, though; just leave most of the marinade behind in the dish) and transfer to a large roasting dish. Cover with foil, slip into the oven and roast for four and a half hours – every now and then (say, three or four times over the whole cooking period), take the di
3. After the time is up, remove the foil, turn up the heat to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and give the pork a final blast – after 15-20 minutes, the top will take on a lovely colour and the meat should be yielding and soft enough to cut with a spoon.
4. To make crackling shards to serve with the meat, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line a roasting tray with baking paper. Lightly score the skin from the pork belly with a sharp knife, then rub it with a three or four fat pinches of salt – I also like to add a few caraway, cumin or fennel seeds at this point (use anything that takes your fancy). Cut the skin into long strips and lay
5. Cut or pull the pork apart, top with finely chopped coriander and flat-leaf parsley and shards of crackling, if you have made them, and serve at once