Fatty pork belly and crispy crackling is one of my weakness. There are so many different tips and tricks on how to make that perfect crackling, ranging from the baking soda and salt mixture method, to dry in the fridge for up to 2 days, to scoring and salting the skin a particular way before cooking it in the oven. None of them ever worked perfectly and consistently for me until I have stumbled upon Steve Groves method of pan frying the skin in hot oil for better control and consistency. It will cause a bit of splatter and I would suggest using a deeper pot, but it's an annoyance I'm willing to endure again for that guaranteed golden crunchy consistent finish.
Difficulty: Difficult
Time: 3 days
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Pork Belly
- 1.5 kilo pork belly
- 2 tbsp lard
- oil
Brining Liquid
- 1.5 kg water
- 50 g salt
- 4 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 garlic cloves sliced
- 1g ground all spice
- 4 cloves
- 2 whole juniper berries
- 4 thyme sprigs
- 2 bay leaves
Purple Carrot Puree
- 2 large purple carrots sliced
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1.5 cup unsalted chicken stock
- salt
Golden Beetroot
- 300g golden beetroot peeled and quartered
- olive oil
- salt
Red Wine Jus
- 3 large shallots sliced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup marsala
- 1.5 cup full bodied red wine
- 1 cup brining stock
- salt
- 3 tbsp flour
- 4 tbsp butter
Garnish
- French red vein sorrel leaves
Method
Two Nights Prior
1. Grind the coriander seeds, garlic, juniper berries in a mortar and pestle into a smooth paste. Add it to a stock bag with the thyme, bay leaves and all spice.
2. Bring water to boil with the salt. Add the stock bag with the aromatics to let it infuse and cool down. Transfer the liquid into a large glass bowl, submerge the pork belly in the bowl. Use weight to ensure that it's full submerged if necessary and leave it in the fridge overnight for 10 hours.
The Morning Prior
3. Take the pork out of the bowl. Place it in a large ziplock bag with 250g of the brining liquid. Submerged it in a sous vide bath heated to 64 degrees and leave it cooking for 24 hours.
The Morning
4. Take the pork belly out of the bag. Dry thoroughly with kitchen paper towel. Place the pork belly between 2 baking trays with a weight added on top. Leave it in the fridge for at least 6 hours. This will help shape and form the pork belly for later.
2 Hours Before Dinner
5. Take the pork belly out of the fridge and let it return to room temperature.
6. Make the carrot puree by adding the carrots in a stock pot with the chicken stock and butter. Bring to boil and gently simmer for low heat for about 20 minutes until the carrots soft and fully cooked through. Season to taste and add it to a food processor with just enough liquid and blitz it into a smooth puree. Keep warm and set aside.
7. Season the golden beetroots with salt and pepper and add it to a ziplock bag with some olive oil. Cook in a sous vide bath heated to 83 degrees for 30 minutes. I used sous vide baths so it's cooked to a perfect texture with just the right amount of crunch without having to worry about looking after it while I work on the other components. You can also just sauté it in a pan or cook it in a pot with some stock. Set aside and keep warm.
8. Cut up the pork belly into half. Dry it again thoroughly, lightly score the skin and salt it generously with salt. Heat up the lard and enough oil to have about 3mm of oil in the pan over medium high heat. Gently place the pork skin side down on the hot oil and fry until the skin start to puff up and crispy. Fry the other edges of the pork as well to bring it back to room temperature. (Careful with this part of the process as it's guaranteed to splatter. Use a deeper pot might help. Alternatively, you can also try to achieve the crackle over high heat in an oven but I find the method of frying in a pan with oil gives a more consistent and even cracikling as it's easier to control.)
8. Make the red wine jus by pan frying the sliced shallots with oil in a cast iron sauce pan until well caramelised. Add the tomato paste and fry for a further 1 minute before deglazing with the marsala wine. Add the red wine and brining liquid and bring it to boil. Simmer over low heat until there is approximately 1.5 cups of sauce. In a separate small fry pan, melt the butter before adding the flour to the pan over medium heat, mix well and cook until it starts to brown. Remove from heat and add the mixture to the reduced red wine jus gradually until it achieves the desired consistency. It should just be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Set aside and keep warm.
9. Cut the pork belly into serving size portions. Place the sauce on the plate before topping it with a piece of the pork belly. Add the carrot puree and golden beetroots onto the plate before garnishing with French red vein sorrel leaves. Enjoy!
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