Sliced pork belly -- now what?
Picked up some "bacon" at the farmers market last weekend, but when I opened the package tonight, I saw that it says "pork belly." I cooked it up, just in case, and I think it is, in fact, uncured pork belly, sliced up like bacon.
Any suggestions what I can do with this? And how long can it stay in my fridge?
Thanks.
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10 Comments:
Does it still look/smell ok? Since it hasn't been cured, it might be past its prime by now.
If it's still ok and if you like Asian flavors, I would suggest the following preparation- it's spicy and tasty, great over sticky rice.
Cut the belly into 2" pieces, marinate in sake, a little microplaned ginger and black pepper for 30 mins.
Rinse a couple of bunches of nira (asian thin leeks) and cut into 2-3" sections, keeping the thicker stem ends separate.
Halve and slice an onion (to be similar in shape to nira, long and thin).
Sautee the pork with all its marinade, until all liquid is evaporated. Add onion slices and cook until translucent.
Add/splash some soysauce and cook until almost evaporated.
Add a little sprinkling of sugar.
Add the stem ends of the nira and stir-fry for a minute, add some tobanjang sparingly (Japanese chili paste, *very hot*).
Add the rest of the nira, and stir fry; when it looks still kind of crunchy, even underdone, turn off the flame. The residual heat will cook it though, and you don't want it too be too mushy. Taste for salt at this point- all the water that came out of the nira will have provided the liquid for a sauce.
Shitake mushooms are good in this too.
I love this dish- strong flavors that make you sweat!
hammama at 11:05PM on 04/10/08
Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking stir-fry, something with sweetness, heat, and onion. So your tip hits it right on the head
The meat still looks pretty good (it's been vacuum packed, came rock solid frozen, and has been in the fridge), so I'm comfortable using it in the next day or so.
As for your recipe, what would you suggest as substitutions (if only approximations) for the nira and tobanjang? I've never seen nira, but suppose I could use what's left of my ramps and some scallions? And I've never heard of tobanjang and am wary of purchasing more condiments (we already have so many). I have sriracha and dried chilies on hand, plus some Japanese dried chili blend.
I think I'm with you on this one, but I'll have to swap the ginger for garlic. We're just not that into ginger.
Thanks, I'm feeling much better about this unfortunate switcheroo.
renzata at 11:18PM on 04/10/08
Sure, the ramps sound good; scallions may get a little soft, so better to add towards the end so they keep some tooth. I'm not sure how the sriracha will react in this- tobanjang creates a chili oil, whereas the sriracha may stay saucy- I'm sure it will still be tasty though.
Hope it turns out well for you!
hammama at 11:35PM on 04/10/08
Grill it a la Korean BBQ!
Or put it in hot pot...nothing like thinly sliced pork belly in hot pot. You'd think boiled meat would taste pretty bland. Not so...!
fuuchan at 12:57AM on 04/11/08
@renzata-- how I envy your ramps...and you mentioned it so casually.
sigh
wookie at 2:01AM on 04/11/08
This is also called "side pork", when it's thickly sliced, (about 1/8").
It tastes like a cross between bacon and pork chop and can be substituted for either.
I wouldn't keep it in the fridge more than a couple days, but it freezes and thaws well.
srhcb at 9:09AM on 04/11/08
Wookie, my enthusiasm for the ramps was tempered by lessons learned in an earlier thread:
http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2008/04/ramps-highly-cathartic-what-the.html
renzata at 3:06PM on 04/11/08
Also, I can note for posterity my workaround for the bacon that it wasn't.
I was planning to make a kind of salade lyonnaise, but was already swapping stuff around: no frisee at the market, so used some very tender escarole. No shallots, used ramps. And for the pork belly, I cut it into lardons and then slowly rendered the fat and browned it to a crisp with a hearty does of salt, brown sugar, and a little pepper. Not as good as bacon, but still pretty good, esp. with the balsamic.
And I'm finally relaxed and confident with my egg poaching (can't believe I survived over 20 years before learning of poached eggs). So I'm sure that next time will be a disaster.
I'm also tempted to try out something like the dish on Top Chef this past week, with miso and chili. Maybe I'll just freeze it for now until I know what I want to do.
Thanks everyone.
renzata at 3:11PM on 04/11/08
see gordon ramsey's recipe for pressed pork belly. then instead of the last step of crisping in squares. slice it and fry it up in a pan with some sliced serrano peppers. I eat that on a sandwich of nice crusty bread with mayo. yum i now have to go search for pork belly.
Amer5858 at 10:57PM on 04/14/08
This is late to the threat. But if you decide you liked it enough to buy more, or if you find some pork belly WITH THE SKIN ON in an Asian market, here's a wonderful European recipe: Score the skin every half in inch but not too deeply. Rub in salt and powdered fennel seed. Place skin side up in a 400F oven for 15 minutes to draw the fat. Pour fat off and add white wine three-quarters of the way up the meat. Turn heat down to 300F and bake for 3 hours. While the meat rests, pour off the juice and separate the fat from the gravy. Slice the pork through the score marks, serve with pureed mash potato and the juice poured over. Bon appetit, eatWashington
eatWashington at 11:13AM on 04/22/08