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Tongan-Style Roast Pork

Name: Tongan-Style Roast Pork
Total time: 150 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Tonga
Ingredients: 800g (skin-on, in one piece) Pork belly; 1 tbsp Salt; 3 cloves Garlic; 1 tbsp Soy Sauce; A pinch Black Pepper; 2 Sweet potato

Main Dish

⏱ 150 min

👥 Serves 6

Difficulty ⭐⭐

Skin-on pork roasted crisp — Tonga's celebration whole roast pig, puaka tunu, made in a home oven.

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📖 The Story Behind This Dish

Puaka tunu is a traditional Tongan dish of a whole pig slowly turned and roasted over charcoal, essential at royal events, weddings, birthdays, and other big celebrations. The crackling skin is considered the greatest treat. At home you can enjoy the flavor by oven-roasting skin-on pork belly.

🌆 Where it's eaten: At a village wedding in Tonga, several whole roast pigs are laid along a long table and the crackling skin is carved for the guests.

🥕 Ingredients (serves 6)

Pork belly 800g (skin-on, in one piece)
Salt 1 tbsp
Garlic 3 cloves
Soy Sauce 1 tbsp
Black Pepper A pinch
Sweet potato 2

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Score the pork skin finely, pour boiling water over it, and pat dry.
Spread the meat side with grated garlic, soy sauce, and pepper, rub plenty of salt into the skin, and dry uncovered in the fridge overnight.
Place on a roasting tray skin side up and roast at 160°C for 1 1/2 hours.
Raise the oven to 230°C and roast 20 minutes until the skin puffs and crackles.
Carve and serve with sweet potatoes roasted alongside.

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