Mar 22nd, 2009
Crispy Pork Belly Braised in Apple Juice
Pork Belly is one of those dishes I’m always surprised by. I never think to order it in restaurants, then end up drooling over it on someone else’s plate (and if that someone else is the husband, stealing bites). Thankfully, the husband was flipping through this book as I was looking for the next recipe to make, and with his love of Pork Belly, he zeroed in on this fantastic dish.
This one starts with a great, Asian-inspired spice rub, and sits on a tray in the fridge overnight as the salt draws any excess moisture out of the meat and the spices infuse the pork belly with flavour. Or at least, that’s the ideal scenario. We ended up out late the night before Pork Belly Day, so I did the rub/fridge thing in the morning for about 6 hours worth of absorbing. Were I to do this one again, I’d be keen to let it go overnight – I think the flavour would be a lot more intense.
Not that it was any sort of disappointment in the flavour department. After rendering the fat side of the pork belly until it’s got a good, golden colour on it, it’s then braised in a mix of vegetables that’ve been sauteed in the rendered fat from the initial crisping, white wine, stock and apple juice.
I’d read of the sear/braise/sear technique for making super crispy chicken thighs in a recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated, so was pretty interested in seeing how a practical application would work. Turns out, quite well!
Once they come out of the braise, the pork bellies are browned again to crisp up all the edges. We served them on a bed of braised red cabbage.
Mine turned out a bit darker and crustier than the golden, translucent fat-layer shown in the picture in the book (this book is pretty short on photos of the recipes, for those to whom that kind of thing’s important), but it was damn good nonetheless. Definitely a keeper.
Cirspy Pork Belly Braised in Joie’s Orchard Apple Juice – page 214
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