A delicious and cheap cut of pig.

Firstly, I’d like to apologize for not updating last week. A combination of the holidays, family commitments and a little bit of illness killed my chances to sit down and write, but I managed to set aside some time for cooking. I’ve finished two recipes in the past few days, so I’ll update twice this week. The first of the two dishes being Roasted, Brined Pork Belly.

When looking over the recipe, I envisioned a dish similar to the pork belly one could find in a nice dim sum restaurant. After making it, I’m happy to say that my assumption was right on. I only wish I had a little bit of black bean sauce on hand. Sigh.

Mr. Henderson is quite right about the cheapness of the pork belly. My current supplier for offal and other lovely cuts of meat, MT Supermarket, charged a whopping 7 dollars for a 4 pound piece. Considering some thick cut steaks cost that much it’s a great deal. He’s also correct regarding the delicious aspects, but fails to mention how simple it is.

Here’s the pork belly in all it’s piggy glory. The supermarket has been kind enough to remove the hair on every porcine piece prior to butchering.

Mr. Henderson asked for the bones to be left in for this dish. The fat webbing around the ribs took on an interesting color after brining.

The corning brine that is used for most recipes. After reading it so many times, I’ve got it memorized.

The pork belly and a few duck legs sitting in my brining bucket, Bertie. The belly needed to soak for only three days.

Here’s the fat webbing change I mentioned above. I’d be lying if I said I expected the webbing to turn a blue-ish tint.

I scored the rind, covered it with just a dash of olive oil and then sprinkled on a healthy pinch of sea salt. Underneath the belly is a bed of roughly chopped onion. The onion helped flavor the pork just a little bit and kept the meat from touching the pyrex and burning. I dropped the belly into a medium hot oven and let it sit for a little while.

After the allotted time, I pulled the pork belly out of the oven. I checked the internal temperature of the meat and it was done, but the skin on top hadn’t completely crisped up. I would have finished it under the broiler, but this was a perfect chance to use the butane torch my wife got me for Christmas. After a little trial and error I managed to brown the skin to a nice crispy consistency.

Here’s the finished recipe. I cut the meat off the rib bones and then sliced it into manageable pieces. When it was served, my wife immediately commented on skin, calling it “incredible.” I totally agree with her. Mr. Henderson really hit a homerun with this dish. Crispy skin, moist flesh and a delicious rich layer of fat. The short time in the brine gave the belly a nice amount of flavor without turning it too salty.

I’m still working on the artistic aspects of photography.

Here is teaser picture for Friday’s update: Rolled Pig’s Spleen.

One down, one hundred and thirty two to go.