For the love of pork...

I knew I was pushing it when I bought a slab of pork belly from our local butcher shop. The “hungry” hubby does not like the fat or skin of any kind of meat at all. This is usually a perfect arrangement because there are no contentions over crispy chicken skin and crispy fat pieces from lamb or steaks – they are all mine for the taking. But the sight of pieces of pork belly, which are easily the lardiest part of the pig, cooking in a large vat of simmering fat – now that’s well uhm – pushing it, right?

            Pork belly is what bacon is made from. So there is not much difference fat-wise to eat several strips of bacon than having it in the form of deep-fried succulent pork belly cutlets. Both are equally sinful but I infinitely prefer the latter preparation.

            Charcuterie is the art of preserving meat either by salting, smoking or curing. My favorite among these is the confit de canard otherwise known as duck confit. An excellent book on this subject is Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polycn. I couldn’t describe the profound interest I have in the curing of duck and of pork – two of my favorite meats. The process of charcuterie transforms their meat and fat into extremely succulent and tasty fare.  I have also gotten obsessive about making pork belly confit. The best way to prepare the pork belly confit for serving is to deep-fry it. I have just gotten over my fear of copious amount of hot oil so this possibility has become more of a reality –- I finally made the confit this weekend!

            

           Ruhlman was right. You can’t get it anymore less fatty so you might as well go all-out with deep-frying. This method creates a uniform crust with the fat becoming so meltingly tender that it literally dissolves on your tongue.

          The confit was crispy on the outside, the meat falling apart but it was the fat that held the concentration of flavors derived from all the spices -- a perfect alchemy of complex tastes that explodes with flavor with each bite.

           I served this with some mustard and balsamic vinegar which exquisitely complements every bit of this artery-clogging number. It is very good served with a crusty baguette but my Asian roots had me eating this with a plate of steaming white rice.

Jim Drohman’s Pork Belly Confit

            Adapted from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman

Dry Cure

            2 tbs        freshly ground black pepper

            ½ tbs       ground cinammon

            ½ tsp       ground clove

            ¼ tsp       ground allspice

            3              bay leaves crushed

            10            springs fresh thyme

            2 ounces   kosher salt

            1 tsp         pink salt

Other Ingredients            

            6 lbs pork belly, skin removed and cut into 1x 3 inch chunks

            Rendered pork or duck fat as needed

            Dry white wine

            Canola oil or rendered duck or pork fat for deep-frying

Combine all the cure ingredients in a bowl and stir to distribute the seasonings evenly.

Toss the pork with the cure to coat evenly. Pack into a nonreactive container and cover with white wine. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.

Preheat oven to 250 °F

Remove the pork from the cure and pat the pieces dry with paper towels. Place pork in an ovenproof pot or Dutch oven and cover with the rendered fat. Bring to a simmer on the stovetop, then place in the oven, uncovered, and cook until the pork is fork-tender, about 2 to 3 hours.

      Remove the pork from the oven and cool to room temperature in the fat. (If you simply can’t wait to eat this succulent bundle when it is just finished its confit – we highly recommend chilling all confit, which intensifies the juicy tenderness of the meat – you can pour off and reserve the fat, then return the pan to the stovetop over high heat until the meat is nicely browned). Refrigerate the pork in the pan it was cooked in or transfer to another container and add the fat; the pork should be completely submerged in the fat. Refrigerate until completely chilled, or for up to 2 months.

To serve, remove the pork from the refrigerator, preferably a few hours ahead. Remove the pork from the fat, and wipe off the excess. In a deep-heavy pot, heat the oil for deep-frying 350 to 375. Deep-fry the pork belly until crispy and heat through, about 2 minutes if it was at room temperature. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Cooking Notes:

            This was extremely easy to make. I really like the flavors in this confit and might not make much variations except maybe experiment with garlic and star anise or even five-spice. I forgot to cut the pieces into 1x3 inch chunks so I had to cut them before deep-frying.  I don’t know how this affected the end product. I guess I just have to make the pork belly confit again to find out!

           

            Being the half-cooked Chinese girl that I am, I totally forgot about Chinese New Year. Coincidentally, it is the Year of the Pig. This might explain why I was so adamant to cook this deep-fried pork belly this past weekend. Well, at least I celebrated it even without being aware of it. Kung hei fat choi!!!

Comments

[Tartelette]

Oh, how I wish this plate was before me right now...I love confit, pork belly, duck fat and everything crispy cooked in oil...Beautiful!

[Tanna]

Oh, suffer, suffer make it again!
This seems to be another book sweeping over the blogging world. Guess I'll have to take a look.
Gorgeous picture.

[joey]

OH MY!!! I love duck confit, and I love pork, but I have never had pork confit...this looks like something I would fight tigers for! Thank you for posting this recipe!

[Freya]

I am really interested in confie-ing (not a word, I suspect) different meats and this has given me a great starting post (I think I might the Ruhlman book too!). Looks delicious!

[Patricia Scarpin]

I'll be quiet here so my husband won't come near the computer - if he sees this, Veron, I'll have to make it! ;)

[Lisa]

That looks heavenly.. guess my idea of staying away from pork isn't going to last very long, eh? =)

[Brilynn]

Oooh that is SO going on my list of things to make from his book!

[MeltingWok]

hey Veron, Happy Chinese New Year to you too !! How many "red envelopes" have you received or given out now ? :) I just realised you're cantonese hehe :) Ok, I could imagine how the pork taste like, this also reminds me of the chinese Roast Pork, without the fatty crispy skins hehe, isn't it not, ? yumss..oo..that reminds me of Chinese smoked ham, I'm cooking up some soup as we speak, should be ready by tomorrow hehe, thanks for sharing, cheers ! :)

[veron]

Thanks Helen - I'm with you on the crispy fried stuff :).
If you like preserved meats, Tanna, definitely get ruhlman's book. It's the definitive guide to Charcuterie.
oooh joey I'm sure you'll like the taste of pork belly confit...imagine crisped fat and juicy pork...
Thanks freya -- definitely try to make cofit...it could be messy with all the fat involved but it is totally worth it.
Hi Patricia - yeh I have to hide the monitor from my hubby too so he doesn't get any ideas :)
Lisa dear now why do you want to stay away from something as delicious as pork?
Brilynn - if you can make bacon , pork belly is a walk in the park.
Hi MeltingWok - the pork belly meat shares the same texture as Chinese roast pork (tsa-siao) but the taste is totally different. ooh...love chinese smoked ham.

[MeltingWok]

Veron, oh no..hehe, sorry Veron ! I thought we were thinking of Roast Pork "Siew yoke", no ? & not BBQ Pork "tsa siao". I'm confused now :(

[veron]

MW - my bad...you are right roast pork is "siew yoke" ...I don't remember anymore the taste of roast pork so I'm not sure if they taste the same with the confit...:( .

[Steven]

Veron, I've had confit pork belly before, as is and deep fried to get the crust. They were both delicious so I know how you enjoyed this. I think star anise and garlic will go nicely as I've used them in pork belly stews.

[valentina]

Veronica, only recently I cooked using pork belly for the first time. I have to say that despite my worries the final result was delicious meat, succulent and full of flavour. Yours look amazing.

[peabody]

Oh I love pork belly but have never made it at home. I am afraid I will just eat it all.

[Susan from Food "Blogga"]

I've never made pork belly, but if you're able to make it look that good, then I'll have to try your recipe. My husband would be happy beyond words! Thanks for such an informative post; I enjoyed reading it.

[MeltingWok]

Veron, you're not missing out on "siu yoke" (chinese roast pork)at all. In fact, your confit tasted v/similar to SY, and your recipe have some major ingredients used in SY, except minus the thymes, add the chinese 5 spice, bravo !! :)

[valentina]

This looks so delicious. Savoured every word of this post.