The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Spicy Grilled Bacon (Pork Belly) Skewers

A couple of months ago a friend from Montana sent me a pic of thick-cut bacon threaded onto skewers and slowly cooked on the grill; he was at an outdoor expo and a vendor was cooking these and apparently selling them hand over fist one early summer day in Boise.

My friend is not the handiest guy in the kitchen or around the grill (patience is indeed a virtue, and the lack of it can lead to disaster when cooking over live fire); he didn’t have the best of luck with this one the first time he tried it, leading to him pestering me the past few weeks for help working this one out.

After figuring out that you simply can’t rush these Spicy Grilled Bacon (or Pork Belly) Skewers over too hot a fire, we’ve had great results the past couple of times I’ve grilled these up, including the night before last served over a simple salad with a great guacamole on the side.

When stirring together the basting mixture, note there are three ingredients listed as optional; we think it needs all three, including just a bit of honey to add a hint of sweetness to the heat, and the ginger and lemongrass weave in a couple of other flavor notes that round out the Asian-inspired riff here.

Build a two-zone, fairly slow, live fire or just fire one burner if cooking over gas, and don’t wander off and leave these unattended for long. Keep turning and baste right at the end a few times to build a flavor-packed layer of flavor on that crispy bacon.

1 pound thick-cut bacon or uncured pork belly, cut into 1/4-inch slices

3 tbsp chile paste (sambal oelek)
1-2 tbsp honey (optional)
2 tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
2-3 tsp good Sriracha
1 tsp minced or pureed ginger (optional)
1 tsp minced or pureed lemongrass (optional)

To serve
Your favorite green salsa or chimichurri, such as…
Quick Columbian Guacamole
Tomatillo Avocado Salsa
Quick Columbian Aji Sauce
Our House Chimichurri

Lime quarters

Fire your grill and set things up to cook over indirect heat – bank the coals to one or two sides leaving an unheated zone in the middle or on a gas grill just fire one burner.

Combine the glaze ingredients (the Chile paste, optional honey, rice vinegar, Sriracha, optional ginger, optional lemongrass) and set aside. Thread the bacon/pork belly slices onto wooden (soaked) or metal skewers like an accordion (see the images) and grill over indirect heat for 15-30 minutes, pending how thick your slices are. Turn every several minutes, adjusting position as needed, until beginning to brown.

At this point start brushing with the glaze every 45 seconds or so, followed by a turn, for another 3-4 minutes until they’re nicely colored and maybe even a little sticky.

To serve, set out the salsa and limes, and go to it.

Enjoy.