The perfect Autumn comfort food!
You might be thinking, “why pork belly”? We’re always trying to take steps towards a more “nose-to-tail” style of eating. In being fortunate enough to live in a place where we have the luxury of abundance, home cooking can quickly become lazy and slightly unimaginative. It’s easy to get locked into a pattern of eating two or three different cuts of meat, leaving behind the rest of the animal, as if it has no purpose. Cooking the less coveted cuts of meat can be daunting and seemingly unnecessary when you have chicken breasts and ribeye steaks at your disposal. But in reality, there’s delicious opportunity in these “less inspiring” cuts of meat. You just need to know what to do with them!
Pork belly isn’t something I ever considered cooking, until I noticed it when we were putting in an order for meat, from a local farm. I accepted the challenge, and it sat in my deep freeze for a couple of months before I figured out what to do with it. This recipe is my attempt at recreating a delicious dish I had at a local restaurant, shortly after deciding to take on the pork belly cut.
This is a “Sunday Dinner” kind of dish. It yields a large amount of food, and is quite rich. Pork belly is the same part of the pig that is used to create bacon, so you can imagine how much fat is marbled throughout one slab. However, not having undertaken a slow smoking process, means it doesn’t contain nitrates and unhealthy additives that are typically used for bacon. While the meat doesn’t take a particularly long time to cook, the fat takes time to melt and become tender. So braising is an ideal option for cooking. The beauty of braising is that it’s pretty “fool proof”. You’re going to end up with tender meat, every time.
Our favourite way to serve this recipe is over “spaetzle”, which are traditional German dumplings. But you can certainly serve it over regular dumplings, or even potatoes. Get creative!
Braised Pork Belly with Cinnamon, Apples, & Wine
Ingredients
- 5 lbs Pork Belly
- 2 Apples, peeled and chopped into small cubes
- 8 Cloves of Garlic, peeled
- 3 Cups Stock, ideally homemade
- 1 1/2 Cups Dry White Wine
- 3 Sprigs of Thyme
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 3 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne
- 1+ tbsp Oil, for frying
Instructions
- NOTE: This recipe uses a 7-8 quart heavy Dutch oven. If you do not have one available, a roasting pan will work fine. Simply sear the meat in a skillet, and transfer it to the roasting pan, once finished.
- Preheat the oven to 300 Degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a bowl, make a rub by combining brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cayenne, garlic powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the pork belly into approximately 1 inch strips, and then cut each strip into 1 inch cubes. Pat the meat dry and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle about a third of the rub over the meat, and mix. Repeat two more times, with the remainder of the rub, and mix until evenly coated.
- Heat a heavy 7-8 quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat, and add 1 tbsp of oil. Use a skillet if you do not have a Dutch oven. When the oil is rippling, but not smoking, add as many pieces of meat as you can, without crowding, flipping periodically until browned on all sides (the fatty sides won’t get as dark). Adjust the heat as needed, to avoid heavy smoking (there will be some smoke). Once finished, transfer each piece of meat to a bowl or cutting board, and continue with the second batch. You shouldn’t need more oil, as fat from the meat will likely have melted, leaving the pan greasy (like when you fry bacon). That being said, different cuts contain more fat than others. Add a small amount of oil, if necessary. Repeat, in stages, with the remainder of the meat, reserving the juices that dripped to the bottom of the bowl. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Do not wash.
- If you’re using a skillet and a roasting pan, add a small amount of stock to the skillet, in order to release as much of the flavour from the bottom as possible. Add this to the roasting pan, for flavour.
- Wrap the thyme in cheesecloth and tie the ends with kitchen twine. Skip this step if you don’t mind picking out the sprigs or scooping around them, when serving.
- Place the apples and garlic cloves at the bottom of the Dutch oven, followed by the meat and thyme. Pour the stock, wine, and reserved juices over the meat, and return it to the stovetop over medium heat, bringing the mixture to a simmer. Transfer to the oven, covered, and allow to cook. After 2 hours, gently stir and allow to cook, uncovered, for one more hour. 3 HOURS TOTAL.
- When the pork is done, it should be tender and the fat should be soft. If the fat is still tough, place it back in the oven, checking for tenderness after about 30 more minutes.
- Once finished, remove it from the oven. The sauce and the fat will be separated, with the fat settled on top. Carefully spoon out as much fat as possible, without removing much, if any, of the sauce. If using a roasting pan, you’ll need to carefully tip the pan, so the juices pool to one side. You can also do this with the Dutch oven, as it gets more difficult to limit your scoops to only fat. Once it becomes nearly impossible to scoop out the fat without collecting the sauce, you’re finished.
- Serve over spaetzel, or regular dumplings, and enjoy!
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