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eG Cook-Off #65: Pork Belly

David Ross

By David Ross
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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

thanks. it was close to the 'melt' but I needed to add time on the 'bake' to get it to 185 or 190 T.P'd

good idea on the broil on the skin: next time.

also Im going to do an Orange type rub and an Orange type hot and sour glaze.

Id also like to do the same technique exactly ( what ever that might be that day ) and put one piece in the BV-XL and the other in

the CuisiSteamBoy and do the same times etc one w/o 'steam' and one w steam. dont hold your breath for the results !

which until I get Additional Amps in the Kitchen, has moved to the former bathroom upstairs, now the

SV/Experimental Steam Station etc

( w running water )

Edited by rotuts (log)
  • Like 1
jayt90

jayt90

Posted
Posted

Best pork skin I have had was at Ho Ho in north Toronto. Crispy, succulent, and soft.

In this thread it is either too soft or too tough.

I see only two ways to get it soft and crispy:

Sous vide plus broiling

or Pressure cooker plus broiling.

Here is the Ho Ho method, which I have failed to duplicate at home.

http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2009/08/ho-ho-bbq.

They do several sides of pork every day. It is not just pork belly, but it is all good.

Kerala

Kerala

Posted
Posted

Intrigued by this and the other pork belly thread, and also by Ken Hom who has been going around China on Saturday Morning Kitchen, I tried my own twice-cooked pb. Faux-Chinese preparation: pressure cooked pb strips with ginger, pepper, bay seeds, white vinegar, chilli powder and Chinese five-spice for 50 minutes. Marinade the strips in hoi-sin sauce, namh pla. Finish off in a flat frying pan to get some crispiness and colour.

Apologies to all those offended by this utterly barbaric act. You were all responsible for inspiring me.

And thank you everyone. Absolutely delicious melt-in-the-mouth unctiousness. I can't wait to do it again!

  • Like 1
David Ross

David Ross

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Wow Shelby that is a massive pork belly compared to the puny stuff I get. It would be perfect for bacon. Did you just find it at a local market or did you have to ask a butcher to order it for you? If I only lived more close to the land of pork.

David Ross

My blog-http://todayshomekitchen.com/

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Shelby

Shelby

Posted
Posted

Wow Shelby that is a massive pork belly compared to the puny stuff I get. It would be perfect for bacon. Did you just find it at a local market or did you have to ask a butcher to order it for you? If I only lived more close to the land of pork.

Is it really big? I have no way to compare since I had never seen or eaten it before. The only place we can find it is at the Asian Market in the big city. We didn't special order it. You have to get there early in the morning though, or else it's all gone. We can finally eat pork belly AND I can also get ground pork which is another new yummy thing for me.

I may live closer to the land of pork, but I'd trade you to live in the land of fresh seafood :)

  • Like 1

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

"" You have to get there early in the morning though ""

Yar. I've noticed this myself. I go to the ChinaMart in Allston SUN AM. Opens at 9 am

PB's gone by 9:30 AM

get there at 9:15 and there is a bit of a scuffle for the last few.

:huh:

Edited by rotuts (log)
  • Like 1
Shelby

Shelby

Posted
Posted

pics of the 'Asian Market' would be nice ..... :biggrin:

maybe some scuffle ....

Ok, I'll try to do that!

To me, when I walk through the store it's like a new world. I stand and stare at the canned goods….the fresh fish…..the meat section…OH and the veggie section is SO fresh compared to the big grocery stores in the city. WHICH I don't understand. I'm happy to get fresh, cheaper veggies at the Asian market, but I don't get how they are SO much cheaper and SO much fresher than the big chain stores.

Now, to be fair, the frozen section is VERY frozen and very old. Very old. Everything looks so freezer burned. Blech.

BUT, the fresh stuff FAR out weighs the frozen bad stuff.

Oh and there is certainly scuffle to get the best belly etc. in the morning :)

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

AsianMart: Gr. Onions : 3 / dollar

WhiteBreadMart: 99c each.

the AsianMart Gr.Onions has roots: rinse and place bunch in yogurt container w some water on the bottom: last forever.

they cut them off for the WhiteBreadCrowd :huh:

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

Another (quite small but meaty) pork belly found its way to my house. I dithered back and forth between roast pork belly or bacon. Since my kitchen mojo seems to be MIA, bacon won. It will cure in the fridge for 7 days giving my mojo time to wend its way home.

  • Like 1

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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huiray

huiray

Posted
Posted

Wow Shelby that is a massive pork belly compared to the puny stuff I get. It would be perfect for bacon. Did you just find it at a local market or did you have to ask a butcher to order it for you? If I only lived more close to the land of pork.

At my local Chinese grocer they come in boxes (chilled/semi-frozen) of slabs around 1 foot x 2 feet in dimensions, ranging from about 1 1/2 to 3 inches thick, of varying meat-to-fat ratios. These folks generally cut them up into strips for sale, but you can get an intact slab or part of a slab if you wish by asking them. Most customers here don't really want intact pieces, they far prefer slices - and as I have exemplified in my posts, that is how most folks use it when cooking pork belly.

David Ross

David Ross

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I took the advice and was at the Asian store when they opened at 9am this morning. The meat case was full of fat, thick, meaty pork belly--at a really good price of $2.99 per pound. For comparison I went online and found two high-end sources for pork belly, both at the $25.00 per pound mark, (without shipping).

030.JPG

This fat boy will be bacon in a few weeks, although I don't know if mine will turn out as delicious looking as what Shelby has displayed.

033.JPG

  • Like 4

David Ross

My blog-http://todayshomekitchen.com/

Host, eG Cook-Off's, https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143994-egullet-recipe-cook-off-index/

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

slice it thin as you can for a sandwich. soup is good with this.

some croutons?

Edited by rotuts (log)
  • Like 1
rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

Tomorrow at 9:01 Ill be at the Allston MA 'ChinaMart' for a few Bellies.

sorry my Sony is so old and large i cant take pics of the Scrum. no cell pics here.

might take it anyway.

Ill look for the usual pork dumpling in the Cold Counter. Ill send a pic of those later.

  • Like 1
huiray

huiray

Posted
Posted (edited)

Pork belly stir-fry.

Pork belly being sliced up:

DSCN0646a_1k.jpg

(Yes, it is pork belly, not some other cut. This was taken off the end of a slab of pork belly I got just the other day; this meaty end also had semi-missing skin due to a partial hack through it during processing at the plant, presumably)

Pork belly sliced marinated w/ Shaohsing wine, ryori-shu, mirin-fuu, "aged soy sauce", ground white pepper.

Plus some other ingredients - sliced bamboo shoots (large head type), ginger, garlic; also chopped Chinese long beans (stir-fried separately).

DSCN0648a_1k.jpg

Stuff in the pan - peanut oil, ginger, garlic, pork belly; toss around; bamboo shoots, then fresh wood-ear fungus (not shown above); toss around; trimmed scallions (not shown above) at the last; seasoning adjusted.

DSCN0653a_1k.jpg

Plated, with rice.

DSCN0658a_1k.jpg

(The long beans were separately stir-fried and eaten alongside. See here for a pic.)

Edited by huiray
Updated link (log)
  • Like 2
huiray

huiray

Posted
Posted

Regarding pork belly prices:

At my local Chinese/Asian/International markets/groceries I would say the price hovers in the mid-2 buck per pound range or so. At the full-service butcher I go to on occasion (I get my picanha from them also) their pork belly is around $7/lb, usually 50-50 fat-to-lean or thereabouts. Pork belly is very rare in "normal" Western supermarkets around here.

Regarding the "pork belly scrum" mentioned in some posts above - personally, I have never seen such a thing in any of the places I've lived and shopped in.

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

And, here's what we did with the second belly…we meaning my husband lol.

Bacon!

Brined for a week and then smoked for 4 hours at 160 degrees.

attachicon.gifImage.jpg

attachicon.gifImage 1.jpg

Pretty!

Was there nitrate in the brine?

David Ross

David Ross

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

And, here's what we did with the second belly…we meaning my husband lol.

Bacon!

Brined for a week and then smoked for 4 hours at 160 degrees.

attachicon.gifImage.jpg

attachicon.gifImage 1.jpg

Do you prefer to bake the bacon or pan-fry? I prefer to put the slices on a rack over a cookie sheet and bake in a 400 oven, turning once or twice, until crispy.

David Ross

My blog-http://todayshomekitchen.com/

Host, eG Cook-Off's, https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143994-egullet-recipe-cook-off-index/

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