Coffee roaster switches careers for crispy pork crackling

Coffee roaster switches careers for crispy pork crackling

2024-03-27

After a successful career as a coffee roaster, Tseng Meng-shen from Changhua found a new passion. One taste of crispy pork crackling from a Guangdong master chef and Tseng was hooked, and decided to change careers at 60 to learn how to make it. Tseng roasted no fewer than 100 pigs over six months before eventually realizing its demands weren’t so different from coffee roasting. Now Tseng has made it in another career as a successful chef.

Each slice of crispy pork makes a mouth-watering crackle, beaten only by its succulent flavor.

The secret to this enticing crackling lies in mastery of the oven.

At 280 degrees, the pork juices begin to seep out. Tseng Meng-shen inspects from outside with a flashlight, not daring to step away for one second of the 50-minute cook time. But even before now, he was already a master at roasting.

Tseng Meng-shen
Pork crackling chef
You have to marinate the pork belly for a day, then cool it for a day before you can finally roast it on the third.

Tseng started out as a coffee roaster before one day getting the opportunity to try pork crackling from a master chef in Guangdong. He decided then and there to learn from the chef, spending a half year studying. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Tseng Meng-shen
Pork crackling chef
Sometimes it didn’t cook inside, and sometimes the skin wasn’t crispy at all. Both kinds were inedible. They had to be thrown away. I went through so many, probably about 100 pigs.

From coffee to pork, Tseng has succeeded at whatever career he has set out for himself. He says that nothing is too difficult in this world, as long as you are willing to work hard.

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