Meat

Pork Belly

A layered cut from the pig belly, showing alternating bands of lean meat and white fat and often sold skin-on.

繁體中文: 五花腩
English: Pork Belly
Bahasa Indonesia: Perut babi (五花腩)
Tagalog: Liempo / tiyan ng baboy (五花腩)

What is it?

Pork belly is the precise cut corresponding to Hong Kong 豬腩肉 and the market term 五花腩. The “five-flower” name refers to its familiar layered lean-and-fat appearance.

How to identify it

Look for a rectangular belly slab with continuous alternating layers of lean and white fat. Skin-on pieces have an intact skin surface on one side; not every fatty pork cut is pork belly.

Alternating layers of lean and fat
Usually a rectangular slab or thick slice
Skin-on pieces have one intact skin side

Common confusion

Lean Pork

Pork belly has continuous alternating lean-and-fat layers; lean pork is mainly solid muscle with little internal fat.

Common Hong Kong household uses

Commonly braised, red-cooked, roasted, steamed or sliced for stir-fries.

Preparation or handling

Keep raw pork separate from cooked food, use separate boards and knives, wash hands and contact surfaces, and cook the centre to at least 75°C for 30 seconds.

Storage

Keep covered on the lowest refrigerator shelf at 4°C or below. Freeze at -18°C or below and thaw at 0–4°C or in a microwave.

Helper tip

Confirm skin-on or skinless and whole or sliced. The layered cross-section is the main visual check.

What Ma’am or Sir may say

買一斤連皮五花腩，切四厘米件。

The employer wants about one catty of skin-on pork belly cut into pieces about four centimetres wide.

Useful market phrase

唔該要一斤連皮五花腩，肥瘦均勻。

Does the image look correct?

Last reviewed

2026-08-24