Time & Yield
| Yield | |
|---|---|
| Prep Time | 6 hours |
| Categories | Pork |
About this recipe
Swinging by the Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza yesterday, I saw those Asian Pears.
You gotta love these things. They pack incredible flavor with a texture that offers a bit of grainy, and a ton of crunch, and chewiness, and above an incredible amount of sweet, sweet, juice. I just thought to myself - hey, pear + pork = good. the result is inspired from seeing Spanish Chef Joan Roca perform some stunning things, and a pressed pork belly technique that looks real nice on the plate.
Be advised that this is a really involved recipe that can take 3 days to make.
Ingredients
Method
1. Pork Belly Preparation: Brine the pork belly for 24-48 hours. Brining means you will take your biggest stock pot, fill it with water, and pour in half a cup of salt and half a cup of sugar. Add some flavorings like garlic cloves, a couple bay leaves, mustard seeds...get creative here. Brining will make the flavor of the pork stand right out.
Remove the belly from the marinade and grab a sharp knife. Put the belly on a cutting board skin side down. We want to make the bottom nice and flat so it will cook evenly and give us the even squares of pork belly we want in the end. What you need to do is to butterfly the thick end, meaning you'll make a slit in the inside part and spread it open like a butterfly. If this seems crazy impossible, just cut it up until everything looks nice and even and save the extra meat.
Place the belly in a roasting pan and pour in a good cup of brine. Add any other flavors you want here (herbs, tons more garlic, etc).Roast the belly for 3 hours at 325 degrees F, basting once in the middle of the process or for better results do it overnight at 225F.
Remove belly from the oven and reserve cooking liquid in a bowl. Once the belly has cooled down, place a layer of plastic wrap over the top and weigh down with heavy cans or jars. You want it to be pretty heavy so it will press the belly into a nice even square. Leave this in the fridge for at least 4 hours or preferably all day if you're at work.
Remove the belly from the fridge and section it off into nice squares, roughly 3-4" on each side, but not too huge. Now grab a knife and score the skin in a crisscross pattern, so that when we broil the top, the fat will render and make the skin extra crispy. Reserve squares in roasting pan and make sure to bring them to room temp before cooking.
2. Asian Pear Glaze: Peel the fruit and dice up into small squares. Melt a square of butter in a saucepan and add fruit. Cook on low heat until soft and transfer to blender. Mix several tablespoons of sugar with the belly roasting juices in a glass and slowly drizzle this into the blender until liquid consistency while blending the pear. Strain and transfer to saucepan, add a tablespoon of vinegar, and reduce on low heat until thick and syrupy.
3. Pear Sheets: Cut the pears in half and slice into paper-thin slices using a mandolin. Take the biggest slices and arrange on a buttered roasting pan. Reserve.
4. Use a melon baller to cut out little balls from a halved pear. Warm some butter in a sauce pan and slowly cook the balls until al dente. Add a touch of salt and reserve chilled.
To Assemble and Serve:
Get your broiler ready at maximum setting. Warm the glaze and the pear balls. Place the pork belly squares and the sheets on the top rack several inches from the broiler and monitor closely so that you can remove it at the perfect time. Remember: if you walk away from the oven, it's sure to burn, so really concentrate on taking the belly out when the skin is crispy and deep golden and the sheets when they are nice and caramelized. It should take about 5 minutes.
Plate your dish: Place 4 broiled sheets into a pattern of your choice in the middle of the plate and lay the pork belly square on top. Arrange balls around the plate. Spoon some glaze over the top of the pork belly and squares and drip some on top and around each of the little balls so that they are sitting in a little pool of sauce.
Garnish with something green like some dandelion, thyme flowers,or some microgreens.
