Glossy glazed pork belly pieces with celery batons, cherry tomatoes and coriander leaves in a bowl

Recipe

Tropical Honey Glazed Pork Belly

Published 02 December 2025 · Updated 26 October 2026

Honey, soy and lemon give these pork belly slices a glossy sweet-savoury coating, with the peppery spice of jerk seasoning and pimento. A covered slow roast softens the meat before the glaze goes on for a short oven finish; celery and cherry tomatoes add a fresh contrast to the rich pork.

Not kitchen tested by The Black Farmer.
Serves 5
Prep 35 min
Cook 135 min
Total 175 min

Timing: Untested baseline: 175 minutes. Preparation is 20 minutes initially, 10 minutes to drain, mix the glaze and raise the oven temperature, and 5 minutes to plate: 35 minutes elapsed preparation. Cooking is 120 minutes covered roasting plus 10 minutes first glaze and 5 minutes second glaze: 135 minutes. Vegetable cooking takes 8 sequential minutes (1 minute heating, 4 minutes celery, 3 minutes tomatoes) wholly inside the first 10-minute glaze window, not 8 additional minutes. Its component segments share that window for the validator; they are not instructions to perform the vegetable tasks simultaneously. The 60-minute liquid check, endpoint probing and both 30-second temperature holds are included in their enclosing stages. Resting adds 5 minutes. Thus 35 + 135 + 5 = 175 minutes, with no marination or cooling. Extra covered tenderness/safety repeats add 15 minutes each; any additional finish interval adds 5 minutes. Extra oven recovery or slower preparation also extends the estimate. Butcher preparation, thawing and separately cooked accompaniments are excluded. Safety and tenderness take priority over the clock.

Ingredients

Other Ingredients You'll Need

  • Boneless rindless pork belly — 1 kg net weight, cut across the meat and fat layers into slices 2 cm thick, then into pieces about 8 cm long (Start chilled and fully thawed. Ask a butcher to remove the skin and any bones before weighing; retain the layers of fat. This is recipe weight after preparation, not a 1 kg skin-on shopping pack. Do not substitute a whole slab or thin stir-fry slices.)
  • Clear honey — 80 g (about 4 tbsp), all for the late glaze
  • Light brown sugar — 12 g (about 1 tbsp), all for the late glaze
  • Light soy sauce — 30 ml (2 tbsp), all for the late glaze
  • Fresh lemon juice — 30 ml (2 tbsp), all for the late glaze
  • Jerk seasoning paste — 30 g (about 2 tbsp), all for the late glaze; choose mild or hot to taste (Use a thick ready-made jerk seasoning paste, not a thin table sauce. Heat and salt vary by brand; check the label for allergens. Any sugar in this paste also enters only at the glazing stage.)
  • Ground pimento (allspice) — 1/2 tsp, all for the late glaze
  • Paprika — 1 tsp, all for the late glaze
  • Celery — 3 medium sticks (about 150 g trimmed), washed, tough strings removed and cut into batons 5 cm long and 5 mm wide
  • Cherry tomatoes — 250 g, washed and left whole; remove all stalks
  • Vegetable oil — 15 ml (1 tbsp), all for cooking the vegetables
  • Fine salt and black pepper — 1/4 tsp each for the pork, plus a small pinch of each for the vegetables if needed
  • Water — 250 ml freshly boiled for the covered roast, plus hot water in 50 ml additions only if the tin is drying out
  • Fresh coriander — 5 g leaves, washed and dried, to finish (optional)

Method

Prepare the pork and tin

Allow about 20 minutes for initial preparation, including preheating. Heat the oven to 160°C, or 140°C fan. Use a high-sided metal roasting tin about 30 × 22 × 6 cm, at least 3 litres, with heavy-duty foil for a tight seal, plus a 28 cm frying pan with a lid, tongs, a pastry brush and a clean digital food thermometer. The specified pork pieces must fit snugly in a single layer without overlapping; use a slightly larger tin if necessary. Remove all packaging and pads. Do not wash raw pork. Pat the rindless pork belly dry and season with the measured 1/4 tsp each of salt and black pepper. Put it in the tin with the layers of meat and fat visible on top; no rack or oil is needed. Pour all 250 ml freshly boiled water around it, then seal tightly with foil. Keep the honey, sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice, jerk seasoning paste, pimento and paprika separate: none goes on the raw pork. Prepare the celery, cherry tomatoes and optional coriander, keeping them separate from raw-meat utensils. Wash hands and clean raw-meat surfaces and equipment before handling these ingredients.

Slow-roast until tender

Cook covered for an estimated 120 minutes at 160°C, or 140°C fan. After 60 minutes, carefully peel back one corner of the foil away from your face and check there is still a shallow pool of liquid. If the base is drying out, add 50 ml hot water around the pork; add further measured amounts only if needed. Reseal and continue for the remaining 60 minutes. The brief check and top-ups are included within this stage. At the end, test several of the thickest pieces with a clean probe inserted sideways into the centre of the meat, avoiding a fat pocket and the tin: the centre must reach at least 75°C and stay at or above it for 30 seconds. Check tenderness separately with a skewer: it should enter with little resistance while the pieces still hold together. If either safety or tenderness is not achieved, reseal and cook in further 15-minute intervals, checking liquid, temperature and tenderness after each. Do not move to glazing until both checks pass; a brown surface is not a safety test. Follow any more stringent pack instructions and clean the probe after use.

Drain and prepare the late glaze

Allow about 10 minutes for this transition, including reheating the oven. Increase the oven to 200°C, or 180°C fan, and wait until it reaches that temperature. Lift the tender pork with clean tongs onto a heatproof plate and gently blot its upper surfaces with kitchen paper. Wearing oven gloves, carefully pour the hot cooking liquid and rendered fat from the tin into a heatproof jug; do not pour fat down the sink. Discard this liquid once safe to handle: it is not the glaze and is not reduced into sauce. Wipe the tin carefully with kitchen paper held in tongs, then return the pork in one layer, broad cut faces uppermost. In a clean bowl, stir together all the honey, light brown sugar, light soy sauce, fresh lemon juice, jerk seasoning paste, ground pimento and paprika. Divide the mixture equally between two clean bowls: first half for the first coat, second half for the final coat. Neither portion is a raw-pork marinade. Brush the first half over the upper faces and sides of the cooked pork, using all that portion. If your oven takes longer to reach temperature, allow extra transition time.

Glaze in two short coats

Roast uncovered for 10 minutes at 200°C, or 180°C fan, on the middle shelf. Brush the second half of the glaze over the pork and roast for a further 5 minutes, giving 15 minutes of glazing altogether. The coating should bubble and cling, becoming glossy and deep brown at the edges rather than black. Keep the pieces uppermost in the same position; do not grill or sear the sugary coating. Watch closely, and if the edges darken too quickly, loosely shield those pieces with foil while the final coat heats through. During the final part of this stage, recheck the thickest pieces for at least 75°C for 30 seconds; this check and hold are included within the glazing allowance. If necessary, cover loosely and continue at 160°C, or 140°C fan, in 5-minute intervals until the safety endpoint is met. If the pork is safe but the glaze remains runny, give it up to one additional 5-minute interval uncovered at 180°C, or 160°C fan, watching closely; do not chase a dark crust or burn the honey.

Cook the vegetables while the pork glazes

As soon as the pork starts its 15-minute glaze finish, heat all 15 ml vegetable oil in the 28 cm frying pan over a medium heat; allow 1 minute. Add all the celery batons and cook for 4 minutes, stirring, until bright and beginning to soften but still crisp. Add all the whole cherry tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes more, turning gently, until hot and starting to blister, with some skins splitting. Season with a small pinch of salt and black pepper only if needed. These 8 minutes overlap the oven glazing and are not extra cooking time. Take the pan off the heat and cover to keep the vegetables warm. Serve the vegetables alongside the pork rather than simmering them in its glaze.

Rest briefly and serve

Take the pork out of the oven and rest in the tin for 5 minutes without a tight cover, so the glaze settles. Keep the vegetables covered off the heat during this short rest. Then allow about 5 minutes to divide the pork and vegetables between five plates, spooning any sticky glaze left in the roasting tin over the pork. Add the optional coriander leaves if using and serve straight away. The result is tender rindless pork with a sticky coating, not crackling or crisp skin. Serve with separately prepared accompaniments.

Serving Suggestion

Serve with steamed basmati rice and Garlic Butter Kale, with the celery and cherry tomatoes alongside the glazed pork. Rice and kale are separate accompaniments; their preparation and cooking are not included in this recipe's total.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do I add the honey and sugar?

Only after the pork is safely cooked and tender, drained and ready for the oven finish. Mix all the honey and sugar with the soy, lemon, jerk paste, pimento and paprika in a clean bowl, then divide equally for the first and second coats. There is no sweet raw-pork marinade and no reserved raw marinade to pour over cooked meat.

Why is there no 30-minute marinade?

This version uses slow covered cooking for tenderness, followed by a concentrated late glaze for flavour. A short marinade would not soften pork belly's connective tissue and would put honey and any sugar in the jerk paste through unnecessary prolonged heat. No marinating wait is included in the timings.

Can I use skin-on pork belly?

Ask the butcher to remove the skin and any bones before weighing out the 1 kg recipe quantity. This is not a crackling recipe: the covered stage softens skin rather than making it crisp. A 1 kg skin-on pack will weigh less after trimming, so it is not automatically the same quantity as 1 kg prepared rindless pork.

Is 75°C enough to make pork belly tender?

It establishes the safety endpoint only when held for the specified 30 seconds; it does not guarantee tenderness. Check the centre of several thick pieces and also use a skewer. If the pork still resists the skewer, continue the covered stage in the stated 15-minute intervals before adding the glaze.

How do I stop the glaze burning?

Add it only for the short oven finish, in two coats, and avoid a grill or hot frying-pan sear. Watch the edges and shield any pieces that darken too quickly. The aim is a glossy coating, not blackened sugar. Keep the celery and tomatoes in their separate pan so their juices do not dilute the glaze.

Does tropical mean this contains pineapple?

No. The original recipe name is retained, but this dish gets its sweet-savoury flavour from honey, lemon, soy and jerk seasoning, with pimento and paprika. Pineapple, mango and coconut are not ingredients, and the recipe is described as Caribbean-inspired rather than a traditional regional preparation.