Peter Blakeway Food writer

Animal fat has so often been the enemy of the good diet, yet as is often the case it isn't the product itself that's bad just the way we use it.

The Inuit peoples of Alaska have a diet of almost total animal fat, yet have tremendously low rates of heart disease. The simple fact is animal fats transfer to body warmth better than any other fat so as the days get cooler our bodies start to crave the comfort foods. And too often we satisfy this craving with sugary substitutes instead of what our bodies really need.

Throughout history pork was one of the few types of meat that was widely available and affordable. Indeed for many it was the only meat they ever had to eat. What's better is pork lends itself to many wonderful ways of preservation, just look at the array of cured and dried bits of pork now available to us from all over the world.

That said, pork is getting a pretty poor reputation these days and frankly it shouldn't. It is, after all, people who choose to treat pigs in the most appalling ways. But sadly it's also us who want cheap meat and can get blinded by the fact cheap meat comes from cheap production.

Thankfully, it doesn't have to be this way. We are so lucky in the Bay of Plenty to have some fantastic piggeries that are organic and free range and we must really support them whenever we can. To put it simply, it's so much better to use the cheap cut of an expensive animal than the expensive cut of a cheap one.

By showing our support of good farming practices we encourage more farmers to do what they wish they could do – being produce top quality product and get paid for their skills. For those interested I bought my piece of belly pork from Highcrest Free Range in Te Puke.

So all that waffle brings me to the belly pork, in this case a wonderfully crispy and fragrant piece of perfection, which I hope you'll try and enjoy as much as we do?

Chinese crisp roasted pork

1 x 1kg piece fresh belly pork, boned but not skinned

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp light soy sauce

3 tsp salt

½ tsp five-spice powder

Method

Score pork skin at 1cm intervals, using a very sharp knife and cutting right through the skin. Blanch meat in a large saucepan of boiling water for two minutes, then lift out, rinse under cold water and dry well with kitchen paper.

Combine garlic and soy sauce and rub all over meat side of pork. Combine salt and five-spice powder and rub all over skin. Refrigerate uncovered, skin-side up, for at least two hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius and line a baking dish with foil. Position a rack in baking dish and settle pork on rack, skin-side up. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees Celsius and bake for 40 minutes or until skin crackles and crisps.

Cool a little before cutting into slices, then into thick fingers. Serve hot with steamed rice and Asian greens or at room temperature as an entrée with a dish of hoi sin sauce for dipping, or use in a stir-fry.