Category: Pork

Aun Koh’s Char Siu using Sous-vide

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 8 depending on serving size

Nat and I cooked this 6 years ago and neither of us has forgotten it.

It’s by a blogger Aun Koh who clearly loves his food and travel. Great photography and attention to detail.

He is a total sous-vide snob and whilst he loves pork belly, pork neck is his go-to for being a leaner cut.

Essentially, marinate for 36 hours and then sous-vide for 24 hours. Glaze and cook in the oven on a temperature high enough that the door falls off.

And that’s it. Just add rice.

And OMG. After that sous-vide, this is a meal you’re going to remember.

A few years back, Nat and I did a bonkers 5-star trip to Hong Kong sans kids. We ate like kings and a meal that we often reference was at Tin Lung Heen. Two Michelin stars, 102nd floor of The Ritz Carlton.

Excellent.
Nat: even more excellent.
The char-siu was very good.

Very unassuming as I am sure you can imagine.

Anyway, they have a char siu that must be preordered; which of course I did, having reviewed the menu weeks out.

And look, the whole experience was pretty amazing. The walk through the black and golden wine cellar on the way to the bathroom is dazzling just in-and-of itself.

And sure, the char siu was excellent. Amazing. Though not as good as this recipe.

Ingredients

1kg Berkshire or Kurobuta pork neck
Rice to serve

Marinade

6 spring onions, sliced into 4cm lengths and smashed
8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
3 tbsp regular soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
3 tbsp sugar
2.5 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp rich chicken stock
1 tsp sesame oil

Finishing sauce (enough for 2 strips)

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp honey

Method

  1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together.
  2. Cut the pork lengthways into strips around 5 – 6cm wide and 1 – 2cm thick. Cut strips crosswise if needed into pieces 12 inches long. (Photo below to illustrate.) Place into a large baking dish that can accommodate all the pork in one layer. Pout the marinade over the pork. Seal with dish with cling wrap overnight, at least 12 hours and up to 36 hours. Turn the pork a few times during the marinating process. Keep in the fridge.
  3. Prepare your sous-vide and bring the water to 58c.
  4. Place each piece of pork, with some marinade, into a vacuum-sealable bag and seal at high pressure.
  5. Drop the bags into the water bath and cook for 24 hours. Once done, prepare an ice water bath and plunge the bags of pork directly into the ice water. Once cool, dry off the bags and liberate (love this word!) your pork, and move to the final stage of finishing off the pork.
  6. Mix the finishing sauce. (From experience, you cannot have too much.) Taste, it should be salty-sweet.
  7. Preheat your oven to the highest temperature it can go. Pour some water into a roasting pan. Over the pan, place a large wire rack that fits over the top of the pan.
  8. Brush as much of the finishing sauce onto the strips of pork. You want it thick. Lay the pork on the wire rack (and over the water in the roasting pan). Pop this in the oven for 10 minutes or until the surface of the char siu is nicely charred.

    (Use a blow torch instead.)
Here you go. Achieve this and you’ve won.

Matt Preston’s Pork Braise

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

Matt Preston calls this pork braise this favourite – ever – and my Lordy, it is definitely something great.

Like, completely, excessively magnificent. Finished with whole, toasted pecans, because why not?

The caramelisation of the pork pieces is critical and so take the time there.

Otherwise, its just a matter of combining all the ingredients and into the oven it goes.

I served this with the basis Neil Perry’s Pan-Fried Polenta (I just didn’t do the pan-frying) and a great cabbage braise with butter, cider vinegar, capers and dates.

Moorish.

Ingredients

1.2kg rindless boneless pork shoulder, cut into 4cm pieces
2 tbsp plain flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 c pineapple juice
140gm tomato paste
1/3 c soy sauce
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp curry powder
1cm knob of ginger, peeled and finely grated
3/4 c toasted pecans

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Place the pork and flour in a large zip lock bag, season, , seal and shake until coated.
  2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a fry pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the pork in batches for 4 – 5 minutes, or until well browned all over. Transfer to a casserole dish.
  3. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Add the pineapple juice, tomato paste, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, curry powder and ginger. Bring to the boil.
  4. Pour over the pork. Cover and bake for 2 hours or until the pork is tender.
  5. Stir in the pecans and season to serve.

Chelsie Collins’ Chilli Con Carne Jackets

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

I didn’t think I would type this somewhat simple, possibly low-blow mid-week dinner.

A dinner that would not ordinarily be what we would dish, though someone was not feeling well and comfort food was in need.

Wow, this is a keeper.

The kids absolutely love it, we absolutely love it, especially served with dollops of sour cream, butter for the potato and avocado.

We also substitute turkey mince for the pork mince on account of calories.

Yes, lobster tet-a-tet it isn’t. Super easy, home run Wednesday-night dinner it is.

Ingredients

4 baking potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
400gm pork mince (we used turkey)
1 tbsp chipotle paste*
400gm can chopped tomatoes
1 chicken stock cube
300ml sour cream
1/4 bunch chives, snipped

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180c and prick the potatoes all over with a fork. Use 1 tbsp of the oil to rub over the potatoes and place on a baking sheet in the oven for about 1 hour until cooked through.
  2. Meanwhile, make the chilli. Put the remaining oil in a deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes until softened. Add the mince, breaking up with a wooden spoon and stirring until turning pale. Stir through the chipotle paste, cook for 1 minutes, then tip in the tomatoes, crumble over the stock cube and season well. Cover and simmer over a gentle heat with the lid on for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Remove the lid from the chilli and cook for 10 minutes more. Once the potatoes are cooked, halve them and top with the chilli, a dollop of soured cream and a sprinkling of chives

* I was really, really surprised by this. So surprised I suggested we simply substitute a powdered chilli con carne pack, though Nat was adamant we go with this sauce. It is a total win.

Made in Poland. The Chipotle capital of the world?

Gretta Anna’s Pork Chops with Mustard, Apples and Garlic Cabbage

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serces: 6

This is just a wonderful bit of Provincial bistro cooking. So tasty, so simple, so warming.

Nat cooked this for lunch in the heart of winter last year and it totally nailed the brief.

French cooking luxury on a budget.

Ingredients

50gm butter for pork
6 foreloin pork chops
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into lengths

Onion mustard sauce

25gm butter
3 onions, chopped
350ml dry sherry
150ml chicken stock
150ml pure cream
3 generous tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water

Garlic cabbage

25gm butter
2 large onions, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 – 5 large garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley (stalks and all)
1/4 cabbage, finely sliced

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
  2. Heat 50gm butter in a fry pan over a medium heat and sauté the pork chops for 5 minutes each side, turning until golden. Transfer the chops to a casserole dish.
  3. To make the onion mustard sauce, heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and sauté the onions for 5 minutes until soft though not coloured. Add the sherry, stock, cream and mustard, then stir the cornflour mixture in to thicken. Simmer for 2 minutes, then add to the casserole dish with the chops. Season with salt and pepper and cover with a lid.
  4. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes, then add the apple and cook for another 10 minutes, until the apple pieces are soft but not falling apart. Remove all the fat from the top using a spoon or a ladle.
  5. To make the garlic cabbage, heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and sauté for 5 minutes until soft though not coloured. Add salt, pepper and garlic and sauté for 1 – 2 minutes and add the parsley. Add the cabbage and toss for a couple of minutes until the cabbage is heated through and coated with the buttery mixture, but still crisp.
  6. Serve the pork with the garlic cabbage.

Nigel Slater’s Pork Belly with Peach Salsa

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

Cudos where cudos are due.

My mother strongly suggested we cook this recipe, what with the narrow window where beautiful, ripe peaches are in season.

And we almost didn’t do it.

The fact that you’re reading it here would hopefully indicate that is was a win.

The spice rub and the salsa work so well together, especially if you get the crackling, really crackling. Leaving the belly in the fridge overnight, uncovered is a great way to achieve this, before adding the rub.

With a simple bowl of steamed rice and some Asian greens on the side, this was a wonderful, wonderful dinner and one which you should definitely try this summer.

While you can!

(Note: I did the salsa in a food processor and I am not sure why you wouldn’t.)

Ingredients

Pork belly, skin finely scored*
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp peanut oil
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp Chinese five spice
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped with seeds
3 peaches, peeled and finely chopped
8 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 small bunch coriander, chopped
Juice of 2 limes
3 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper

Method

  1. Crush the garlic to a paste and combine with the soy sauce, peanut oil, salt, chilli flakes and five spice and spread over the skin and flesh of the pork and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours or ovenight.
  2. Preheat the over to 220c and roast the poek, skin-side up, for 20 minutes.
  3. Reduce the heat to 200c and continue roasting for another 40 – 50 minutes, or until the skin is dark and crisp.
  4. Toss together the spring onions, chilli, peaches, tomatoes, coriander, lime juice and olive oil, season and serve with the pork.

* Leave the belly in the freezer until it is starting to freeze and at this point, scoring is a much easier task.

Tony Roma’s Baby Back Ribs

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

One of my parent’s traditions was a visit to Tony Roma’s for the birthdays of any of the kids.

And we loved it.

The ribs. The onion loaf. The potatoes with sour cream. And creaming soda back then.

Both Tony Romas shut in Sydney years ago, though every time we make it to Waikiki (Honolulu), we visit Tony Romas.

Of course our kids have been and love it just as much as we did when we were kids.

The ribs are sensational and it has to be a full rack with cold beer:

Straight off the charcoal.

The longer you can keep them in the oven, the better of course. And if you can access charcoal, finish them off as the full Monty.‘

Ingredients

1 c ketchup
1 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 c golden syrup
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
4 large, full rack pork ribs
Cold beer to serve

Method

  1. Combine all the ingredients except the ribs in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 30 – 40 minutes until thick.
  2. Heat your oven to 150c. Coat the ribs front and back with the sauce, wrap in foil and. Bake for 2 1/2 hours.
  3. Remove the ribs from the foil and smother with more sauce. Preheat an grill on high and grill until darkened and caramelised.

Neil Perry’s Sweet Black Vinegar Pork Belly

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

Nat cooked this dish from Neil’s book Balance and Harmony as part of a long Sunday lunch and it was just so good.

This is not your local Chinese “sweet and sour”. Not by a long shot.

It isn’t a complex dish either. Just start the night before and with a bowl of rice, some sliced spring onions and roasted sesame seeds…

Lordy.

Ingredients

500gm boneless pork belly cut into 3cm thick pieces across the grain
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp shaoxing
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 1/2 tbsp peanut oil
1/3 c soft brown sugar
4 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
Finely sliced spring onion and roasted sesame seeds to serve

Method

  1. Mix together 1/4 tsp of the sea salt, sugar, shaoxing, soy sauce and 1/2 tbsp of the peanut oil, add the pork and leave to marinate for at least2 hours, or overnight. Remove the pork from the marinade and pat dry with paper towel.
  2. Heat a wok until smoking. Add the remaining oil and, when hot, stir fry the pork in batches for about 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until well coloured on all sides. Return all the pork to the wok and add the brown sugar vinegar, remaining salt. And 1 1/2 cups water. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 1 – 1 1/2 hours, or until the pork is very tender. If the sauce is a little thin, remove the pork from the sauce and return the wok to the heat. Boil until it has a syrupy consistency, then pour over the pork. Sprinkle with the sliced spring onion and sesame seeds.

Pasta Genovese

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4 – 6

This classic pasta really is brilliant.

Nat found it in my mother’s collection of recipes and alongside a focaccia Nat cooked, nobody ate a better lunch in our part of town that day.

I love the cooking of the potatoes with the pasta. Which together with the wonderfully simple pesto and the prosciutto, it just so wonderfully rustic.

Just add plenty of Parmesan, open a bottle of white and there you have it… classic.

Ingredients

Dried linguini or tagliatelle
6 small baby potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
100gm baby green beans, trimmed
Grated Parmesan
Thinly sliced prosciutto
2 c tightly packed basil leaves
50gm pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
150ml olive oil
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

  1. Process the basil, pine nuts and garlic to a paste, stir in the olive oil and 100gm Parmesan: season.
  2. Cook the pasta in salted water and 5 minutes before the cooking time is done, add the potatoes.
  3. Just before draining, add the beans and cook briefly. Drain, retaining 100ml of the pasta water.
  4. Add a generous amount of the pesto to the pasta water together with some additional Parmesan, toss together all the ingredients and serve with prosciutto slices draped over.

Nomad’s Roast Pork Shoulder with Ajo Blanco

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 6 – 8

Goodness gracious, this is an extraordinary pork by Jacque Challinor of Nomad (a great Sydney restaurant) fame.

One of the best porks I have had and even better than the pork shoulder in milk my kids ask me to cook at least once a month.

No question, the brining over night plays a big role here. Ditto the spice rub and Ajo Blanco which just adds another layer of special.

Brining.
And twining.

Though I served it warm on wonderful, light and crunchy bread rolls, French butter, a good dollop of the Ajo Blanco, rocket and a good piece of crackling.

The whole thing is a bit of a labour of love, though everyone at the picnic where I served this up agreed: it was the best they had ever had.

Let’s agree that this is the new gold standard.

Ingredients

375ml sea salt
1 tbsp black peppercorns, toasted
1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted
1 head garlic, halved
1 bunch parsley stalks (reserved from the spice rub)
4 fresh bay leaves
1 bunch thyme
1 boneless pork shoulder (about 3.75kg), skin on and scored
250gm flat pancetta, thinly sliced

Ajo Blanco

25gm crustless sourdough bread
90gm blanched almonds
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tsp sherry vinegar

Spice Rub

1 tbsp celery seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
5 black peppercorns
6 garlic cloves
1/2 c (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 c (loosely packed) sage
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind

Method

  1. Stir salt in 3.75 litres water oil a large saucepan over a high heat until it dissolves (15 – 20 minutes). Remove from the heat, add the spices, garlic, parsley, bay leaves and thyme, cool and then refrigerate until chilled. Transfer to a large non-reactive container, submerge pork in the brine (keeping the skin above the brine) and refrigerate over night.
  2. For Ajo Blanco, soak bread in 125ml water for 2 – 3 minutes, then squeeze out excess. Process almonds in a food processor until finely ground, add bread, garlic and oil and blend to a paste. With motor runnings, slowly add 250ml cold water and process until smooth. Add vinegar, season, strain and chill. Make this a day ahead.
  3. For spice rub, dry-roast spices until fragrant. Crush with a mortar and pestle, add garlic and herbs, crush to a paste and stir in the olive oil and lemon rind.
  4. Preheat oven to 180c. Rinse the pork (not the skin) under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Pull out the flesh ready to truss and rub the spice all over. Roll in a cylinder, ready to truss and wrap and flesh in the pancetta. Tie at intervals with kitchen string, place on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 3 – 3 1/2 hours.
  5. Increase oven to 225c and roast until skin crackles. Remove from the oven, rest for 30 minutes, then carve and serve with the Ajo Blanco.

Gary Rhodes’ Puff Pastry Scrambled Eggs and Leeks with Ham Crème Fraîche

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Serves: 4

Many years ago – like 25 – my mother and I would watch Gary Rhodes and his British cooking show.

Rhodes, Gary (crop).jpg
A wonderful guy, a brilliant chef.

He was not only an incredibly talented chef, though came across as a lovely, calm and collected guy.

Sadly, he died prematurely in 2019 though I remember the tributes at the time from people such as Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver. One quote from the time from Michelin star chef Tom Kerridge described Rhodes as “one of the greatest British chefs who almost single handedly put British food on the world stage”.

My goodness.

All those years ago, my mother bought his two books and we cooked a number of his dishes. Just wonderful, wonderful French cooking.

Twently years later, I am telling Nat about Mr Rhodes and the wonderful books I used to cook from, long out of print of course.

Unbenowst to me, Nat tracks them down in a second hand book store (this is the sort of person Nat is!) and we are back in business.

Five weeks into lockdown in Sydney, Nat and I agreed we needed a break. Home schooling, work, renovating an apartment for sale, endless activities to entertain the kids, endless loops around the park to keep sane, we needed some time for ourselves.

So we took Wednesday off. I lit the outdoor firepit and put the Champagne on ice.

And served this decadent dish as the first course.

My lordy it is fine. Absolute dinner party material.

I said to Nat it reminded me of the food I ate in Chartres (France) many years back. Delicate, so tasty, so bloody good.

Update from my mother. This is me on the far right in Chartres. Haven’t changed a bit.

To say that we had the best afternoon since lockdown would be an understatement. And I can assure you that this starter (along with a cold Champagne) was a strong contributing reason for it!

Ingredients

225gm puff pastry
Flour for dusting
50gm butter plus two large knobs for cooking
5 eggs
1 large or 2 small leeks
3 or 4 thick slices of leg ham
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
6 tbsp vegetable stock
3 tbsp crème fraîche
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Champagne for serving!

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
  2. Cut 2 10cm x 10cm squares of puff pastry and then cut them diagonally in half to make four triangles. Beat one of the eggs and use to brush the pastries, and bake in the over for 20 – 25 minutes until risen and golden brown. Remove the tray from the oven and set the pastries to one side.
  3. Split the leeks in half lengthways, removing the outer layer. Finely slice the halves, washing off any grit in a colander. Leave the leek slices to drain.
  4. To make the ham crème fraîche, cut the ham into a 5mm dice and set aside. Heat the white wine vinegar in a saucepan. Once almost all evaporated, add the stock and simmer until reduced by a third. Whisk in the crème fraîch, followed by the measured butter. Season.
  5. Cut through the pastries, separated the risen lid from the base. Keep the pastry tops and bases warm.
  6. Melt a knob of butter in a large saucepan and once bubbling, add the leeks. Cook on a medium heat, stirring from time to time to ensure an even cooking, for 5 – 7 minutes, until very tender.
  7. Whilst the leeks are cooking, add the remaining eggs to the one used as an egg wash, beating with a fork to emulsify. In another saucepan, melt the remaining knob of butter and once bubbling, add the eggs. Season. As they cook, turn the eggs with a spoon reasonably vigorously, capturing every corner of the pan. When they have reached a very soft, scrambled consistency, remove the pan from the heat. This leaves you with just a minute to ‘build’ the rest of the dish while the scrambled egg thickens.
  8. Add the ham to the sauce, warming it through. Place the pastry bases on warm plates and spoon the cooked leeks loosely on top of each. Turn the scrambled eggs just once more, then spoon on top of the leeks and drizzle the ham crème fraîche around and over. Finish by placing the pastry lids on top.