Added A Little Smoke To The Pork Bellies

I warned you that I was obsessed with these pork bellies. The only thing that was missing from my original prep was a little smoke flavor. I dropped a few hickory chips onto the charcoals on my little Smokey Joe and placed three cubes of lightly salted pressed pork belly directly over the heat source. I also placed a couple of pork loin fillets on the fire (sale at Costco this past week). With the grill cover, a small amount of smoke could lightly flavor the meat. I rotated the sides of the cubes over the heat leaving the skin side for last. When the skin side of the pork belly hit the direct heat- crisp, crackle and voila, pork belly goodness.

I have 12 more cubes of this stuff in my freezer. I'm not finished experimenting. Next step is to develop that yummy garlic sauce I prepped during the braising process. I didn't even taste the pork loin yet as I consumed all those cubes of pork belly.