Braised Pork Belly Goodness
May 4th 2011 13:15
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Braised Pork Belly Sliders
View 2 of the Super Slider
Of all the delicious porky bits of sumptiousness, pork belly is my favourite. Giver of bacony hi how are ya, all hail to thee!
I am teaching a class tonight at the LCBO, (for those who aren't from Ontario, Canada, the LCBO is the Liquor Control Board of Ontario- a government monopoly on alcohol retailing-except beer and a few specialty wine retailers, that does over $4.3 Billion in sales a year(2009) just from the province of Onatrio, population around 13 million) anyway, the class is a tribute to the great japanese fusionist Masaharu Morimoto, and part of the menu is a Braised Pork Belly Slider. A slider is a uniquely american term for a small hamburger, and my version is a riff on that and Morimoto's 10 hour pork belly. While his version is not completely unique, he does bring his own flair to it, I then reinterpret it again.
At the moment (8:45 a.m.) I have 4kg of pork belly in the oven, braising away happily. The techniques here are not unique exactly, I have seen a bunch of variations on it and made mine based on experimentation with Morimoto's original and then bits and pieces from others that I liked or have made myself. Here's the recipe.
For 6 guests.
This dish has to happen over the course of 2-3 days, but the results are well worth it.
1 large piece of Berkshire/Tamworth pork belly, about 2kg, skins removed
125ml brown rice
3 litres and 1 litre of water
750ml sake
500ml sugar
250ml soy sauce
1 star anise
50g sliced ginger
1 baguette, sliced thinly and toasted
Arugula or other delicious but slightly bitter green
The first step in preparing Morimoto's 10-hour pork belly is to render the fat side (skin removed).
Start with a cold pan and sear the belly slowly over very low heat. Render the pork belly for one full hour, turning the heat up to medium for the last five minutes in order to achieve a beautiful golden brown color.
Drain the rendered fat before returning the belly, fat side down, to the pan. Cover the pork belly with three litres of cold water, 125ml cup of brown rice(this isn't for eating, it just absorbs impurities). Simmer very gently for 4-6 hours.
After six hours of low simmering, carefully remove the pork belly. Use two large, strong slotted spatulas to scoop it from the water. Make sure no rice is sticking to the belly then press the belly between two sheet pans and place a heavy object on top to "squeeze" the belly, and place it in the fridge overnight. Remove it the next day, and cut the pork belly into rectangles just large enough to fit on a cross section of baguette.
Once the pork belly has been cut up, combine 1 litre of water with 750ml of sake and 500ml of sugar, the star anise and the ginger, and bring the liquid to a boil just long enough to dissolve the sugar. Pour this hot liquid over the pork belly, and place the covered pan,dutch oven or casserole into a 275-degree oven. After two hours in the oven, add 250-350ml of soy sauce, and allowed the belly to braise for two more hours. I also like to use Kecap Manis in place of regular soy sauce for it's complex sweetness.
Carefully remove the pieces of belly and place them in a single layer to cool. Strain the braising liquid and reduce it on the stove top by about half. Chill this liquid, and pour it back over the belly and refrigerate.
To serve, just heat the pieces in a saute pan with a little of the braising liquid. As the belly warms, the liquid reduces to form a glaze, which can be spooned over the pork.
Braised Pork Belly Slider
Once warmed, serve on a toasted slice of baguette with bitter greens like arugula and maybe a Sriracha mayonnaise( 250ml of mayo with 1 tbsp of spicy chili garlic sauce whisked in)? Or, how about an apple
Kumquat "relish".
I also served a Miso marinated broiled Salmon over wilted baby bok choy(braised in a sake miso mixture) and dashi broth with nori strips that were slightly steamed to look like mushrooms.
Miso marinated Salmon with wilted bok choy and dashi broth
And the evening started with an inside out asparagus, avocado orange sweet pepper roll with Aji Nori Fujimake on two sides. Yes, I did serve it with Wasabi and pickled ginger for show.
Inside out sushi
Enjoy,
Chef Phil
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