Roasted Pork Belly with Fennel Seeds

I tried this recipe with a smaller piece of pork and ended up horribly overcooking it, BUT the spice rub was too good not to be pass on and the crackling formed with this method was also amazing. The authors note you can also make this recipe with pork loin if you reduce the second cooking time from 2 hours to 35 minutes.

Roasted Pork Belly with Fennel Seeds (from Moro)

Ingredients
1.5kg pork belly, skin on and scored every 1 cm
2 garlic cloves, crushed with a pinch of salt
1 tbsp ground fennel seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
150 ml fino sherry or white wine
sea salt and black pepper

1. Mix garlic with fennel seeds and rub over flesh of the belly.
2. Preheat oven to 450F.
3. Place pork on large board, skin-side up and dry skin. Sprinkle scored skin with 1 tbsp fine sea salt. Leave for half an hour and then dust off excess salt.
4. Transfer pork to roasting pan greased with olive oil and place in hot oven on top shelf. Roast for 30 minutes until hard crackling has formed.
5. Reduce heat to 375 and transfer meat to clean roasting pan. Roast for 2 - 2.5 hours until meat is soft and tender. Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting.
6. Meanwhile, Pour off excess oil and place roasting pan on low to medium heat. Deglaze with sherry, scraping pan. Simmer for a couple of minutes to reduce alcohol.
7. Serve pork sliced and topped with sherry gravy.