The FatSteak Club

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(Another) Pork Belly

Continuing the FatSteak Club’s obsession with pork belly, I came across an interesting brining recipe that I wanted to try, but with a few tweaks and without the overnight soak.

I knew I wanted crispy crackling, and an intensely savoury taste to the meat. Drying out the skin overnight is the key to the first, and a powerful rub the second. A spice mill or coffee grinder makes the preparation easy.

Ask your butcher to thinly score the skin, or grab a sharp knife and score through to the fat. If you can, buy a piece of belly with the bones attached. Ask the butcher to remove the bones, but keep them to use as a trivet.
 

Step 1 - Prepare your rub and treat your meat

  • Put the star anise, fennel seeds and bay leaves in a spice mill or coffee grinder

  • Blitz to a fine powder

  • Add the salt and paprika and blitz again

  • Make sure the pork skin is scored sufficiently to produce strips of crackling when cooked

  • Flip the pork skin side down and rub the spice mix into the meat

  • Flip back over and put into a container and leave in the fridge overnight, uncovered, to dry out the skin

 

Step 2 - Roast the pork

  • Take the pork out of the fridge and hour before you want to start cooking

  • Heat the oven to 150C / gas mark 2

  • Put the pork bones in the base of a roasting tin as a trivet
    Top tip: You can use a rack, or make a bed of carrots and onions instead

  • Roast for at least two hours or until the meat comes to an internal temperature of 75C

  • Turn up the heat to 220C / Gas mark 7 for 30 minutes to finish the crackling
    Top top: if the crackling isn’t crackled you can either finish it off under a hot grill, or strip the skin from the meat, and finish upside down in a hot pan

After the meat has rested for a good 20 minutes slice into generous chunks, crackling on the side, and vegetables if you desire!

 

 Ingredients - Savoury pork belly

  • 2kg pork belly with the bones

  • 3 bay leaves

  • 4 star anise

  • 2 tbsp fennel seeds

  • 3 tbsp sea salt

  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika