Bacon, the apex of salted pork. Bacon is both the name of the preparation and the end product. Here in these United States we almost exclusively refer to the smoked bacon from the belly of the hog when we order "Bacon", except for the infrequent "Canadian bacon" (from the ham) order or the rarer still "Irish bacon" (from the back). The process is simple and dates to the beginnings of human food preparation. A cut is salted, let to purge the internal liquid thus creating a situation unpleasant to bacteria, aged for some time and occasionally cured/flavored further by a dose of smoke. This process expresses itself in many forms with many protines: Gravlax of scandinavia, Procuitto of italy and the cornucopia of the hams of the world, Beef Jerkey of the American southwest and countless others.
Our "Stripey Bacon" as our brothers from across the pond call it is a special item however. The aroma when cooked is so insatiable it is know to convert vegetarians on the spot. Even the lowest quality mass produced version can be a delight. It is often hailed as an ingredient that goes with everything and chefs have even built careers on being experts on the topic.
The method by which most mass marketed bacon is produced is know as the "wet cure" where the bellys are injected with and soaked whole in a highly saturated salt and nitrate solution. This method is much quicker the the traditional "Dry cure" and produces an inferior, but still incredibly delicious product. Then it is almost always smoked and then sliced to various widths, with the un-smoked product at this point being sold as "salt pork".
Making the product at home is not only easy but also unimaginably more delicious. Getting your hands on a belly is unfortunately quite difficult sometimes as most American supermarkets don't sell them. Ask around (by that I mean Google) where your local Asian grocer is and good chance they will have it. If it has skin on you can ask the skilled butcher to peel it off for your or do it at home, but don't throw it away! Fry 'em up in slices for Chicharones or broil them to make Cracklings.
[The following assumes you have a 10 Lb belly, adjust recipe accordingly]
Now that you have your skinned whole pork belly at home cut it in half length-wise to make the task a bit more manageable.Put them in a lipped tray that fits them with ample space. Now make a mixture of 1/2 cup Kosher salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar or Mapel syrup or honey or maltose , 1-3 tablespoon pepper all of course on preference. Rub on all sides, coat thoroughly. Now cover the pan with foil or put in a large zip-lock and chuck it in the fridge. Move it around every day or so and after 5-7 days it should lose much of its liquid and be fully cured depending on how large the pieces are. You can always cut a piece off, rinse it well and cook it a bit to check. When cured to your liking rinse VERY well. Now comes smoking, you wanna smoke at around 160-170 for 2-6 hours. I like mine smokey so I go long. After you let it cool then you can slice it to your favorite thickness.I like mine quite thick but thin and crispy is good too, I usualy cut a little of both when i'm making bacon.
Fry it up or bake it. Wrap a hot dog or a steak. Hell, eat it alone in the dark at night. You cant keep it a secret though cause your neighbors will come knocking on the door.
PICTURES COMING SOON
Sorry for the garbagy iPhone picture, hopefully I will be able to improve that soon.