Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Plating messy meats


mexigaf

Recommended Posts

I recently had a meal at eleven madison park in manhattan and i've been trying to figure out how they plate those perfect cubes of suckling pig. The cube is perfectly rectangular with a perfectly browned piece of skin as the top of the cube. Anyone have any ideas how they acomplish this wonderful presentation?

My food and ideas CookDiegoCook

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently had a meal at eleven madison park in manhattan and i've been trying to figure out how they plate those perfect cubes of suckling pig.  The cube is perfectly rectangular with a perfectly browned piece of skin as the top of the cube.  Anyone have any ideas how they acomplish this wonderful presentation?

After cooking the meat is stripped from the bones and put into rectangular trays and then pressed with a weight and the skin on top. When it chills it holds together and can be cut into the squares and then browned for service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't tell you how it is done, but I can tell you that folks in Chinatown (here in Boston and I assume in other cities) who sell roast suckling pig are also masters at this. The food at the Super Bowl party I attended last night was supplied by local Chinatown purveyors, and included a platter of the perfectly executed cubes of suckling pig topped by the crispy skin that you describe. The friend who hosts the party every year always serves the same menu--roast suckling pig, bbq'd roast pork, and roast duck from Chinatown, along with gai lim (chinese broccoli) and steamed dumplings--every year, and there is no need for any last minute weighting or browning for service of the pork. Perhaps the pork isn't cut so that the cubes are perfectly symetrical, but it's impressive nontheless.

The food was great, but the Super Bowl results less happy for those of us in New England.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did something very similar to confit of pork belly. While the belly still was hot, I put it between two cutting boards and a (modest) weight on top, then into the fridge.

Once cold it was very easy to cut into pretty squares and then heat and crisp for serving. But getting perfect pieces is always a trade off against wastage since you have to trim and pretty up.

But how someone manages to get perfect serving pieces out of eg beef cheeks is more of a mystery to me. Probably a variation on the same method?

Edited by TheSwede (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's exactly how you imagine them to do it. very sharp knife or meat cleaver in an expert hand :)

next time you in a china town have a look for the ducks and roast pork hanging in the window displays.

Behind you will see a guy chopping up suckling pig with a meat cleaver. He cuts the skin off the flesh, turns the crispy skin over and then chops it into perfect rectangles then does the same for the meat and then layers the skin back on top.

"so tell me how do you bone a chicken?"

"tastes so good makes you want to slap your mamma!!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...