Asian-Style Bacon

Steps

1. 1Skin the pork belly. If the skin is still on the belly, remove it. Removing the skin can be tricky. Sometimes you can grip a corner and with a knife peel it back by running the knife between the skin and fat. Sometimes you just have to shave it off with a sharp knife.
2. 2Cure it. Pour everything except the meat into a zipper bag large enough to hold the belly. Zip the bag and squish everything around until well mixed. Now add the belly, squeeze out the air as much as possible and squish some more rubbing the cure into the belly and coat all sides. Put the bag in a pan to catch leaks and place in the fridge at 34 to 38°F (1 to 3° C). The belly will release liquid so every day or two you want to gently massage the bag so the liquid and spices are well distributed, and flip the bag over.
3. 3Rinse off the cure. Remove the belly from the bag, and throw the liquid away. Quick rinse it to wash off any thick deposits of salt on the surface.
4. 4Fire up. If you are using a grill, set up for 2-zone cooking or fire up your smoker.
5. 5Cook. Smoke over indirect heat at 225°F (107°C) until the internal temp is 150°F (65.5°C), about 2 hours. You can use any wood you like. Hickory is the tried and true. I'm partial to cherry and applewood.
6. 6Cool. Now let it cool on a plate in the fridge. Cold bacon is easier to slice.
7. 7Wrap it tightly with several layers of plastic wrap, and then a layer of foil, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months. Do not wrap in foil alone because it can react with the salt.
8. 8Slice. Slice it across the grain. For evenly thick slices, a slicing machine is the best choice, but I rarely use mine because it is a pain to clean.
9. 9Cook. When you are hungry, cook it just like you do storebought bacon.
10. 10Save the bacon drippings. While your bacon is cooking lay out a section of newspaper several sheets thick, and cover it with a layer of paper towels. As soon as you take the bacon out of the oven, move it to the paper towel to drain. Let the fat in the pan cool a bit and then pour it in a glass jar and refrigerate.