I bought a lb. of what looks to be very nice pork belly - a couple pieces about 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" X 6"
Problem is I’m not sure what to do with it. I was thinking of a slow braise in soy, garlic, and brown sugar for an hour or so followed by a blast under the broiled and serve with rice.
Any other ideas? I’d rather not but a whole bunch of ingredients so simpler = better.
Thanks in Advance!
Yes to all the above but in the initial braise, add water to just barely cover and plan on a long, long braise at low temp (275-325F). 3 hours or so. Then remove from liquid, let rest, pat dry, then broil to finish.
Do not get impatient.
Waiting a little longer is always good.
Do not get impatient.
Waiting a little longer is always good.
OK tanks - I’ll give it a shot
I Sous Vide my pork belly. 24 hours at 154 then sear in a skillet.
Last batch was rubbed with a mix of Alderwood smoked salt, white sugar and brown sugar.
Tastes great.
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Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
Generously season the pork belly and braise it in the oven on low heat for a couple of hours in a little bit of water/white wine with whatever herbs and spices you have on hand. Check the meat at regular intervals to make sure it’s not dry. The key is to slowly braise it in its own fat and whatever liquid you added. Shred the meat with a fork when its tender and mix it with the rendered fat to whatever consistency you like. Put it a jar or ramekin and top with more rendered fat or clarified butter. Chill for a couple of hours then serve with bread, mustard, cornichons, and of course wine.
I’ve never actually tried this but it sounds amazing and stupidly simple to make.
Rillons:
2 pounds pork belly, skin removed
Kosher salt
2 cups red wine (full bodied like Malbec or Cabernet Sauvignon)
2 cups sugar
Fresh thyme
The recipe comes from an episode of BASICS WITH BABISH where accompanied by guest chef Isaac Toups, a variety of cajun foods are prepared. This basically boils down to candied pork belly A.K.A. pig crack.
Yes to low and slow, for several hours at least, or sous vide. No to removing the skin or putting a char on it, at least if you’re making it Japanese [Edit: Actually shoyu pork is an Okinawa dish. BAD lingyi! You know better!] style which is supposed to be melt in your mouth tender. You can decide if you want to eat the skin or not, but adds flavor and helps the fat from melting away.
On a Japanese TV show, I think Soko Ga Shiratai, about limited menu items, a chef made only 6 or 8 slices of pork belly from the center of the belly. He simmered for it 24 hours in a special soy sauce only. When the host cut into it, it looked fantastic!
Rillons and rillettes (and rillauds for that matter) are kissing cousins in that they’re all made in the same manner. The only difference is the size and texture of the finished product, and maybe the part of the pork that is used and the region in France where it was originally made, if you want to get technical.
I’ve never heard of Cajun rillons/candied pork belly but I’m thinking the “candied” part is a mistranslation or misunderstanding of “confit”, which is the type of cooking method used to make rillons and rillettes. I’ve often seen confit translated to English as “candied” in French menus which used to confuse me, but seeing that fruit confit uses sugar for preservation, it kind of cleared up how they got to that translation.
I remember that show! We used to get a Japanese channel on the cable we had at that time, and I watched this regularly.
I’ve made pork kakuni using pork belly once or twice, and it was terrific. I’ve learned a lot about Japanese cooking from the lady chef on the youtube channel, Cooking With Dog.