The Gourmet Butcher's Braised Pork Belly (A La Chef Contos)

Ingredients

3 pounds pork belly

4 tablespoons dark brown sugar

cup kosher salt

4 tablespoons toasted, ground peppercorns

2 cinnamon sticks, finely ground

1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 cloves finely ground

Preparation

THE RUB:

Into a large bowl, place :

Four tablespoons of dark brown sugar. You want the dark brown sugar because it contains more molasses and delivers more flavor than light brown sugar. By the way, if your brown sugar is lumpy, a few minutes in the microwave or in a warm oven will get rid of the lumps.

One third cup of kosher salt. You could use sea salt, but in this application, kosher salt is better

Four tablespoons of peppercorns that have first been toasted, then finely ground. I like to toast my peppercorns before I put them into my pepper mill to release the natural oils.

Two cinnamon sticks, finely ground. Don’t use that store-bought ground stuff. Just don’t do it! (slap upside the head)

One tablespoon of ground fennel seed.

One tablespoon of coriander seed.

Two tablespoons of minced garlic. Can you smell this yet?

Finally half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and four cloves finely ground (that’s cloves the spice, not cloves the garlic).

THE PORK

OK – three pounds of pork belly. Let me hear you all thumping that meat down – thwack – go for it.

Coat the entire pork belly really well with the spice mixture. On all sides. Then place it into your refrigerator for 24 hours, covered with plastic wrap. Just let it sit… it’ll be happy in there.

NEXT DAY - THE ACTION

After 24 hours in the refrigerator, remove the pork belly and rinse it well with cold water. Now set it aside.

Heat a large braising pot.

To the pot, add two quarts of rich home-made chicken stock (or organic canned if you’re a sissy).

Add three bay leaves. Try to find the fresh ones if you can – more flavor.

Finally add some maple syrup – the REAL STUFF from Vermont.

OK, now that the whole thing is getting warm, it’s time to add our star – the pork belly.

Put the lid on the pot and place into a 300 degree oven for at least three and a half hours, or until completely tender.

After three and a half hours in the oven, remove the pork belly.

Let it return to room temperature on its own schedule, then place it in the refrigerator. You want to completely chill it so that you can slice it easily.

GUESTS ARRIVING - THE FINAL ACT

Ready to eat?

Take the chilled pork belly out of the fridge and slice it into desired portions.

Then gonna brown the slices in a hot pan. I like cast iron.

Trick is to get the pan very hot. You won’t need any additional fat, but you do want to begin searing with the fat side down.

I like to serve the seared pork belly with white bean puree, pork belly on top and pickled red onions. When you’re ready to go even further over the top... pull the meat apart after it’s been seared and use it in place of corned beef for a Reuben sandwich.

THANK YOU CHEF COURTNEY!