Achiote Pork Belly with Pineapple Salsa

Achiote pork belly is a show-stopping meal for any occasion. Slow braised in Corona beer and an earthy, citrusy, and vibrant Mexican achiote paste. The meat is rich, melt-in-your-mouth and incredibly flavourful with flawless crunchy crackling. For best results, begin this recipe a day ahead to allow time for drying out the pork belly overnight in the fridge, to achieve the ultimate crackling experience.
Achiote is a a paste of ground annato, garlic, oregano, a blend of spices, optional chillies, and citrus juice or vinegar. It is an essential ingredient for this recipe, there is no substitute.
To carve the pork belly, turn it upside down—this makes cutting the crackling easier. There’s no need to thicken the sauce, but you can remove some fat and thicken it to make a gravy.

Pork Belly	Pineapple Salsa
2 kg Pork belly 50 g Achiote paste Tallow, lard or olive oil Sea salt flakes 330 ml Corona beer 350-500 ml Chicken stock Cilantro, to serve Lime wedges, to serve	400-500 g Fresh pineapple, diced 250 g Tomatoes, diced 1 Small red onion, peeled and finely chopped 15 g Cilantro, chopped 1 Jalapeno, deseeded and chopped 1 Garlic clove, minced 2 tbsp Lime juice 1 tbsp Olive oil 1 tsp Cumin powder 1/3 tsp Sea salt

Using a very sharp knife, carefully score the skin of the pork at 1cm intervals without cutting into the meat. Rub the meat side with achiote paste. Place the pork belly, skin side up, uncovered in a baking dish and leave it in the fridge overnight or up to 3 days.
Take the pork belly out of the fridge for 30–45 minutes before cooking to bring the pork belly to room temperature. Meanwhile preheat oven to 230C/450F.
Rub the skin with melted tallow or olive oil, then sprinkle generously with sea salt flakes. Place in the oven and roast for 40 minutes until the skin has crackled and golden. Carefully pour in the corona beer and add enough chicken stock until the liquid comes about halfway up the side of the pork, ensuring no liquid comes into contact with the skin. Reduce heat to 180C/350F and roast for a further 1½-2 hours or until pork is completely tender.
For the salsa, combine everything in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasonings to preference. Let the cooked pork belly rest for 15 minutes before carving. Serve the pork belly with pineapple salsa, fresh cilantro and lime wedges.