Pork Belly

[rickyg]

Couple of quick (and not so quick) ideas:

(1) Brine it overnight, then braise it in a liquid of 1 part soy sauce, 3 parts chicken (or chicken and veal) stock and 2 parts vinegar with some mirepoix, garlic, a bay leaf or two, and whole black peppercorns thrown in. You can serve it with the sauce strained then reduced or you can cube the belly pan fry it in oil until browned then serve it with the reduced sauce. It would go great with a bowl of steamed rice and a pickled salad of sliced cucumbers, julienned papayas and cubed hearts of palm. Leftovers can be had for breakfast with a bowl of rice and a sunny side up egg. As with most braised dishes, this gets better when left in the fridge and reheated a day or two later.

(1.1) As above but add a can of coconut milk reduced to sauce consistency (reduced by a bit more than half).

(2) Boil the pork belly in water, salt pepper, garlic and bay leaves. Air dry the pork belly when cooked (an electric fan speeds up the process). When dry, you then cut the belly into 3/4 inch thick slices and deep fry them unitl golden brown. Best served with a basic dipping sauce of soy and vinegar. You could, depending on your taste and mood, add any or all of the ff: chopped thai chilies, chopped fresh garlic, lime juice, minced onions...

(3) Slice thinly (like bacon) then season with salt and pepper. Arrange alternating layers of sliced pork belly and cabbage (several slices of japanese leeks, the white parts only wouldn't hurt, nor would several thin slices of carrots) on a plate then steam until cooked. Serve with a ponzu dipping sauce.

(4) Braise in beer and veal stock with mirepoix, garlic, peppercorns and bayleaf. When cooked, reduce the strained braising liquid to sauce consistency. Great with braised mung beans or lentils.

(5) Tom Colicchio's recipe for braised "fresh" bacon from his cookbook Think Like a Chef. The recipe was also in an issue of GQ I believe.

Hope that helps....

[MobyP]

A couple of threads to warm the belly...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=30472&hl=belly

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=13566&st=0&

[eskimoted]

One idea - rillettes de porc.

Keeps well and you probably have everything else you need already in the kitchen.

There are a million different ways to do it, but here's a recipe for a start - you can fiddle with it to suit yourself.

http://www.galaxylink.com.hk/~john/food/co...ettesdeporc.htm

[PCL]

Thanks for all your thoughts. Looks like braising a'la chinois is very in fashion at the moment. I read somewhere recently, Moby may be able to shed some light on this, probably in one of the London weekend paper magazines, for a simple crispy skinned belly roast...

think it went something like this... not sure about the brining, personally, i think you can end up with a sea-pork... not sure... but here's what i remember from the article...

season skin, scored so it doesn't curl... some herbs, white wine in the roasting dish, pork left in skin up... gentle roast depending on belly size... then finish under grill for crispy skin... sounds simple enough... any thoughts?...

[Marco_Polo]

I read somewhere recently, Moby may be able to shed some light on this, probably in one of the London weekend paper magazines, for a simple crispy skinned belly roast...

Sounds like could have been Nigel Slater in last Sunday's Observer?

Me, I like my pork belly slow-cooked (and I mean really slow) as a braise, not roasted (or even slow-roasted). That way the lean, the fat, the gelatinous, and the chewy rind all fuse into a deliciously melting, falling apart gloop that is irresistable. Asian style is hard to beat. Or why not fry off some garlic, onion, diced carrot and leek, add the pork belly and a bottle of rich, red vin de pays d'Oc. Let slow cook for a three or four hours, then add some lentilles de Puy and continue cooking until tender. A one-pot meal that is warming, cheap and incredibly satisfying.

Of course, you don't get the crispy pork crackling with this method, but honestly I can live without it. If you can't, then slice off the rind first, rub with a bit of olive oil, coarse sea salt and then cook separately in a hot oven or under the grill.

[curlywurlyfi]

I read somewhere recently, Moby may be able to shed some light on this, probably in one of the London weekend paper magazines, for a simple crispy skinned belly roast...

or there was one kicking about somewhere (in last month's Delicious?) for pork belly roasted on shallots with orange + cardamom, which I shall be trying on Sunday, oh yes. Though the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall way - chop thyme with coarse salt, then rub into skin getting well into the grooves* then roast - is simplicity itself and absolutely delicious.

mmmm - hawg fat.

Fi

* cue any amount of 80s music puns here

[itch22]

I rub it with a salt and garlic paste and then roast it. I then marinate the cooked pork with yuan sauce over night. Slice into paper-thin pieces and serve with additional yuan sauce for dipping.

[PCL]

or there was one kicking about somewhere (in last month's Delicious?) for pork belly roasted on shallots with orange + cardamom, which I shall be trying on Sunday, oh yes.  Though the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall way - chop thyme with coarse salt, then rub into skin getting well into the grooves* then roast - is simplicity itself and absolutely delicious. 

mmmm - hawg fat.

Fi

* cue any amount of 80s music puns here

Wasn't Delicious or Observer either... last week's Slater piece was on grilled pork salad... but pork nonetheless...

anyway, what is Yuan sauce?... Yuan ain't no Chinese Dynasty I ever heard of... better ring my grandma and find out...

and as for Hugh, I like the chap, he's very enthusiastic, I've been left peckish after more than one Sunday morning watching his show on the Home & Leisure channel...

but you guys know the best belly pork?... (Peter Gordon's at The Providors on Marylebone High St is pretty up there)... Crispy Roast Pork in Chinatown... my mum used to make it at home... ahhhh... now that's pure beauty...

[itch22]

anyway,  what is Yuan sauce?... Yuan ain't no Chinese Dynasty I ever heard of... better ring my grandma and find out...

It's Japanese acctually, and since I am at work I don't have the exact recipe in front of me to quote but it is basically a mixture of yuzu zest and juice (or line in a pinch), shoyu, sake, and mirin.

However, there was a Yuan dynesty, existed around 1330 AD.

EDIT: It is also sometimes called Yuanyaki.

Edited February 23, 2004 by itch22 (log)

[PCL]

However, there was a Yuan dynesty, existed around 1330 AD.

EDIT: It is also sometimes called Yuanyaki.

yeah, i went to google and it told me the same thing-ish... saved me a long distance call to grandma...!!...

...feeling humbled by my lack of familiarity with my own history...

...anyway, gonna go pick up a couple slabs of belly pork tomorrow...oh yeah

[bigorre]

we have been serving it for a while we actually cook it sous vide at 80 degrees for 4 hours in a herb paste and duck fat then cut nice slices and sear them on one side it is serve with a civet de cepes a truly wonderful southwest france dish i can eat it non stop....we use a pig from France called Le Noir de Bigorre I just cant get enough of that stuff i really enjoy the chinese style....wht r your recipes

[MobyP]

Details please...

By sous vide, you mean sealed up in plastic? What herb paste? And what is a civet of ceps?

And what time is dinner? Can you take pictures?

[ned]

Brine. Sear then braise. Brown and crisp. Season however. Cinnamon is good. Use sugar. With that much fat, how can you go wrong? I have found though that many fussy americans don't like all the striations of fat. So the coolest way I've found to present this wonderful cut of meat is as a terrine. I did all of the above except the browning and crisping. Pulled the bellies, removing most of the fat (only to be returned to the terrine later). In the meantime cooked some split trotters. I mixed the reduced braising liquid, broken down fat and pulled belly and built the terrine with a column of that cartiligenous trotter running through the middle.

[mudbug]

bigorre,

Mmmmmmmmm, Chinese Crispy Pork Skin.

Have you tried to make it this way? How do you do it?

[jackal10]

Tungpo pork in this thread

[mudbug]

I would call it "siu yook" in Cantonese.

Usually the skin is crunchy but crispier and not as smooth as Latino.

Hmm, I guess that's what mudbug mean by "bubbles".

I think the most commonly used term in recipes is "blistered"...

Still looking for a recipe.... anyone?

[mudbug]

Tungpo pork in this thread

jackal10,

Thanks, but that's the opposite of what I'm looking for. Tungpo pork has skin that can be cut with a spoon. I'm looking, for skin which is crispy, crunchy - more crunchy than Krunchers Chips. The skin is usually blistered.

As mentioned in the thread you link to... known as "siu yook" in Cantonese.

[Ben Hong]

A point of clarification: "siu yuk" is perfectly alright and a Chinese waiter would understand perfectly. Siu here means dry roasted or barbecued, as in char siu. But, the Cantonese among us would order "for yuk", or "fired meat". Indeed the pig is literally fired in a tall upright oven wherein the firebricks or flames completely surround the hanging pig/ducks/etc. An animal done this way invariably develops a crispy skin because the fat and moisture drains off in the high, dry heat.

I will present a recipe here, but be aware that there is a little "slippage" in my memory.

The rub is composed of : 1 scant tsp.5 spice powder, 3 tbsp.brown bean sauce (minsee), 1 tbsp. hoisin, 1 tsp. salt, scant tsp.sugar, 4-5 whole star anise, dash of soy sauce. Mix well and let it sit to meld the flavours.

Take a 3-4 pound piece of rind-on belly pork, dry the skin with a cloth, take a sharp fork or ice pick and prick the skin all over. Flip the meat over and deeply score the fleshy side at 1.5 inch intervals, without cutting through. Rub the sauce mixture well into the meat. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Span over a roasting pan with a wire rack and place the meat skinside up on the rack. (The idea is to let the heat circulate all around the meat). Place in oven for 15 mins., turn down the heat to 350 degrees and let cook for 45 minutes. Immediately take it of the oven. Enjoy.

Note, as with all recipes feel free to adjust the ingredients to taste. Oven temps vary, so judge accordingly. A convction oven does a marvelous job on the skin.

[Ben Hong]

An afterthought to my above post. To avoid having the cooked out fat pooling on the skin and ruining the crispy effect, try to put a slant on the wire rack so the fat can drain off.

[jo-mel]

Ben- The whole star anise will give flavor to the rub, but do you break them into cloves and stick them in the scored grooves, when the pork is baking, or just let them lie on top?

[trillium]

A point of clarification: "siu yuk" is perfectly alright and a Chinese waiter would understand perfectly. Siu here means dry roasted or barbecued, as in char siu. But, the Cantonese among us would order "for yuk", or "fired meat". Indeed the

Interesting. All the Cantonese I know say siu yuk, that's where I learned the term.

regards,

trillium

[Ben Hong]

Jo-mel, as far as the star anise is concerned, some people use it , some don't. I think that there is enough anise flavour in the 5 spice powder already. I believe that is why the old fellow who taught me lets the sauce sit for a while, or overnight, to let the cloves infuse.

Choice of ingredients is variable due to regional and local preferences. That's why I don't normally give out recipes, . Eg: In Montreal, they use 5-spice., whereas in Toronto they don't. The Toyshanese like only minsee, whereas the Hong Kongers don't prefer the earthy, heaviness, but go for a very light hand in the saucing. Garlic is a frequent ingredient in some cases and considered heresy by some cooks. So, as they say, it all depends....That's why Chinese cooking is considered an art in some quarters. The way some people slavishly follow recipes nowadays, exact measurements and specific ingredients, etc., would suggest that it is turning into a science - not good. Cook according to your taste buds. That leads to a whole dissertation on taste, harmony, "humours" of foods, yin and yang of ingredients. Too deep for a Friday night, especially when there's a hockey game on TV.

Trillium, the very slight nuance between "siu" (burn or roast)) and "for" (fire, fire-cooked)could be a regional difference. Makes no big whoop. It'll get you the same thing at a restaurant.

[ducphat30]

The two best pork belly experiences I have had were at Blackbird in Chicago; it was braised, overnight served with borlotti beans and some sort of braised green. It was soooooo good, unctous and soul soothing . The other incredible pork belly dish I had was at wd-50 in NYC. It was served with an asian styled bbq sauce, turnips, and a spicy sprout. The belly was crispy around the edges and luxurious in the middle. Truly memorable.

Oops, remembered one more..... as a line cook at the Everest room we used to make choucroute, and the chef would put cured pork belly in, to flavor the choucroute, it would come out and have some of that acidity from the cabbage, but still be rich. As a line cook niblings like that were always treasured.

[Bogon]

I cook roasted pork like Ben Hong's recipe, but there are some significant

differences. Here's the recipe;

Wash pork belly in cold water.

Pour boiling water over the skin, then prick with a metal skewer many times (this

is quite difficult and may bend the skewer). The boiling water makes it

crispier (apparently). It seems to work and it is also used to make the skin

crispier in crispy skin chicken. You might find it a bit scary to pour boiling

water over meat then leave it for a long time - so do I but I've never got

sick from this.

Then score the fleshy underside with a knife and rub a mixture of five

spice powder, salt and pepper. I've seen a recipe that calls for

schechuan pepper ground as well, but since star anise and schechuan pepper

are both in five spice powder, I suggest saving your time by just using it.

If you use schechuan pepper, first cook them for 2-3 minutes in a pan then

grind in a spice grinder.

Now leave in a cool dry place for some time (around 6 hours seems a good

balance between maximum flavour and minimum chance of food poisoning to

me) to marinade, preferably on a rack.

Cook for 15, then 40, then 15 on 425, 375 and 425 respectively, on middle shelf,

**over a shallow dish of water**. It will still be crispy, in fact stop cooking if

the skin starts to burn.

This is an ingredient in some glutinious rice dumplings. I won't give the recipe

here but I highly recommend them. It does seem a waste of time to roast

meat then put it in a boiled dumping. Some recipes I've seen call for the

meat to be marinated then put (raw) in the dumpling. I haven't tried this

but it seems better. Whatever you do, try to make sure all the spices are

well ground or the meat may be unpleasantly gritty.

[Ben Hong]

Bogon, the question begs to be asked, "Was it good?"

I had forgotten to mention the skin scalding step as I don't always do it, but I agree that it almost always ensures crispier "cracklin's". Scalding of the skin of ducks, chickens, etc. prior to roasting achieves the same results.