pork belly

[WhoreLex]

Having some tonight marinaded in hoi sin

yum yum yum

[coolcatmaz]

love pork belly, especially if its still got the rind on and you get some good crackling

[Aranell]

coolcatmaz said:

love pork belly, especially if its still got the rind on and you get some good crackling

Have you tried Si Yuk (Chinese crispy pork)? One of the best foods in the world

[Bob the Planner]

Its what make my sausages with ! Take the meat from off the inside with a few herbs & meal and then use the ribs for a chinese style BBQ.

[UKbob]

Gorgeous on the bbq! Cheap as chips too.

My favourite meat, of all meats/cuts available, is er... lamb belly or whatever its traditional name is. Its basically a huge slice of very thin lamb meat, virtually a foot square (comes rolled up) with loads and Loads of fat! Roasted in the oven till crispy, its got to be the single most flavorsome piece of meat money can buy. Also incredibly cheap, but exceedinly bad for you unfortunately.

[Tina K]

I make my own bacon from pork belly. It's really easy to do - just score the fat, rub it all over with lots of coarse sea salt, and stick it in the bottom of the fridge for a week wrapped in kitchen towel to absorb any moisture. The end result is like pancetta but a tenth of the price, and you can flavour it any way you like as part of the salting. Garlic and herbs work well, with a splash of port for sweetness. Next I'm going to try sugar and bourbon.

[dickymint]

Belly pork One of my fovourites is Korean bulgogi. Big slab of belly fork but off the bone and fat cut off. Cut into strips with a scissors straight onto the table top BBQ.

Which reminds me I still haven't found one of these "indoor bbqs" they're brilliant. You put water in the outer ring which catches the fat and keeps the smoke down.........

Edited by dickymint on Saturday 23 February 09:47

[nightfever]

I tried bulgogi when I was in Canada but it was beef. It was really really tasty though and they had a great soy/sesame/chili/vinegary/watery dip but I never found out the actual ingredients.

[i want an aero]

one of the cheapest and best bits from a pig

[UKbob]

i want an aero said:

one of the cheapest and best bits from a pig

Ears are probably cheaper. I once dated a Romanian bird and at a part at her place, her parents served up pigs ears in a clear kind of jelly substance for desert

[coolcatmaz]

Aranell said:

coolcatmaz said:

love pork belly, especially if its still got the rind on and you get some good crackling

Have you tried Si Yuk (Chinese crispy pork)? One of the best foods in the world

Yes I have, I actually think its better than duck. There's a chinese near me that also do crispy lamb and thats pretty darn good as well.

[condor]

coolcatmaz said:

love pork belly, especially if its still got the rind on and you get some good crackling

Thanks to this thread had my first bit of pork belly tonight
Was a ready meal on a layer of red cabbage and apple slices, was sold fresh but I'd put it in the freezer for another time. I didn't get crisp crackling, just a soggy rind ( that could be because I froze it).
Meat was a lot tastier than I expected so I'll search it out from the butchers and cook it properly

[escargot]

did you score the rind & rub it with salt & oil?

[condor]

escargot said:

did you score the rind & rub it with salt & oil?

No - I thought that would have been done for me as it was a pre-prepared, just stick in the oven job, so thought it might have been because of water crystals. Will do that with the rind I buy next from the proper butcher.

[ccm]

I've yet to find a peice of pork bought from a supermarket where the rind actually goes into crackling, think its the amount of water they add!!!!!!!

never buy meat now if I can help it from a supermarket, always from my local butcher or farm shop, you get good quality meat just how it should be...........and proper crackling on the pork.

[escargot]

ccm said:

I've yet to find a peice of pork bought from a supermarket where the rind actually goes into crackling, think its the amount of water they add!!!!!!!

never buy meat now if I can help it from a supermarket, always from my local butcher or farm shop, you get good quality meat just how it should be...........and proper crackling on the pork.

Works all the time for me. Simply score & rub lots of salt & oil into it. Job done.

(though I agree with your sentiment).

[ccm]

got a lovely piece from the farmers market today, looks damn good and will no doubt taste just as good.

[Tina K]

escargot said:

ccm said:

I've yet to find a peice of pork bought from a supermarket where the rind actually goes into crackling, think its the amount of water they add!!!!!!!

never buy meat now if I can help it from a supermarket, always from my local butcher or farm shop, you get good quality meat just how it should be...........and proper crackling on the pork.

Works all the time for me. Simply score & rub lots of salt & oil into it. Job done.

(though I agree with your sentiment).

The trick is to score the skin, then let it dry out for a good 12 hours in a cool place before you roast it. Any boggo supermarket pork can be transformed in this way, however you won't get the same degree of flavour or succulence as you would from a slowly and properly raised pig (imho).

[Demure]

Sounds really nice

How much sauce did you marinate them in?

(This will probably seem like a silly question to most, however my ability in the kitchen could be described as..."limited" )

Edited by Demure on Monday 3rd March 22:25

[rupert the dog]

We're lucky enough to have an excellent pork butcher in town (queues out of the door every Saturday, and get there after 10 o'clock and there'll be nothing left), and a nice big slab of belly from them, scored, loads of salt, sprigs of thyme pushed into the slits, and cooked basically for as long as you like until you have a wonderful crisp layer of crackling - mmmmmmmm!