Five ingredients, one pan, and 40 minutes from start to plate. Pork belly slices roasted under a heavy coat of paprika, then a splash of cream and an egg poached directly in the rendered fat.
Why Pork Belly Suits Low-Carb Cooking
Pork belly is roughly a third fat by weight, which is exactly what makes it awkward on a conventional diet and useful on a low-carb one. It is also cheap, forgiving and available as ready-cut slices in most supermarkets, which removes the butchery.
The fat is doing more than adding calories here. It renders out into the pan during roasting and becomes the cooking medium for everything that follows. There is no oil in this recipe because there does not need to be.
Getting the Paprika Right
Two tablespoons across two slices sounds excessive and is deliberate. Paprika forms a crust rather than a seasoning at that quantity, and most of it ends up in the pan juices where it colours and flavours the sauce.
Sweet paprika gives a mild, earthy result. Smoked paprika turns the dish into something closer to a Spanish chorizo flavour and is the version worth trying second. Hot paprika works but use one tablespoon of hot and one of sweet rather than two of hot.
Ground spices burn. Because the paprika is going on the meat rather than into a hot pan, it is protected by the fat rendering underneath it, but do not be tempted to grill this rather than roast it.
Poaching the Egg in the Pan
This is the part that makes the recipe. Once the pork is out of the oven and the cream has gone in, you are left with a shallow, hot, fatty sauce, and an egg cracked into it will poach in about five minutes.
Two rules. Do not stir it, or you will end up with scrambled egg through the sauce. And keep the heat low, because the pan carries a lot of residual heat from the oven and the fat will spit.
Five minutes gives you a set white and a runny yolk. The yolk is effectively part of the sauce once you break it, which is the point.
What to Serve With It
Something to catch the sauce. A warmed low-carb bread roll or a slice of low-carb bread both work at under 1g of carbs.
For a green side, our low-carb broccoli fritters hold up against the richness, and our simple low-carb coleslaw gives you something cold and sharp alongside.
Storage
The pork keeps for three days in the fridge and reheats well in a hot oven. The egg does not. If you are making this ahead, roast the pork and stop there, then do the cream and egg fresh when you serve it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is pork belly keto?
Yes. Pork belly contains no carbohydrate at all and is high in fat, which makes it one of the more straightforward cuts to build a ketogenic meal around.
Can you use pork belly joint instead of slices?
Yes, but the timing changes completely. A joint needs two to three hours at 160C, then a blast at 220C to crisp the skin. The slices are what make this a 40 minute recipe.
Why did my egg scramble?
Either the pan was stirred, or it was still too hot from the oven. Let it sit off the heat for a minute before the egg goes in, then keep it on the lowest setting.
Can you make it dairy free?
Yes. Swap the double cream for tinned coconut cream. The result is slightly sweeter and works well with smoked paprika.
1 comment
Lovely recipe, easy to make and tastes great. added a few green beans to accompany it for lunch.