Pork – Page 4 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Goan Pork Curry

Using the Pork Balchao recipe in the 500 Indian Recipes book I picked up for $5 several months ago while waiting for the Dr. to show up for our date, I satisfied a spicy curry craving I was having. Balchao is a spice mix from Goa in which spices are mixed with vinegar and sugar for a spicy-sour-sweet flavor. It’s popular for pickling fish and prawns–I assume to keep before the time of refrigerators–and was brought by those colonizing Portuguese to India’s coastal town.

Pork cubes or stew meat are good for this recipe. I had bought a shoulder thinking I was going to make tacos for the weekend, but changed my mind and ended up slicing the meat off the large bone. There was no harm in stewing the bone with the meat–it just added flavor to the sauce. Boil 2 cups of chicken broth in a separate pot and throw in 2 cups of couscous while you’re at it if you can’t get your hands on some fresh nan.

Also, starting with this post, I have re-ordered the way I list ingredients. They used to be by what I deemed as main ingredients first, down to the seasonings; now they are ordered by when in the process they are used. I realized I was always grouping ingredients in recipes I am inspired by with their coinciding steps–this way, I hope you prep the ingredients in the same order, too. I’ve also included water when needed, something I also skipped because I assumed kitchens always have a sink, but it helps with your mise en place.

Ingredients:
oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 knob of ginger, peeled, crushed
4 pieces dried chiles
1 short cinnamon stick
4 cloves
2 tbsps cumin
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 red onion, sliced thinly
half of a pork shoulder, chop in chunks
2 beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsps turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup of warm water
4 fresh curry leaves, optional
salt
1 tbsp white sugar
a couple of splashes of cider vinegar

1. Using a mortar and pestle, crush together chiles, cinnamon, clove, cumin and peppercorns. Set aside.
2. In a large Dutch oven, heat some oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until garlic is browning a bit. Add the crushed spices and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Add half of the onions and sautÃ© for another 30 seconds. Then add the pork, tomatoes, turmeric and chili powder. Mix to combine everything well. Add water and lower the fire to a simmer.
4. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, with some ocassional stirring, until pork pieces are tender.
5. Using a small skillet, heat a little oil and fry the rest of the onions with curry leaves, if using. Set aside on a plate lined with paper towel.
6. When pork is almost done, stir in sugar and vinegar with some salt to taste. Add a splash of water if it’s too spicy. Simmer for the last 5 minutes just to combine all the flavors.
7. Ladle in shallow bowls and top with fried onions and curry leaves. Serve with rice, couscous or fresh nan.

Braised Pork Belly with Bok Choy

If I knew braising pork belly for three hours would keep me awake to help me get over my jetlag, I would have cooked days ago! I was having this insane craving for Chinese food since I came back from Tanzania. It was very specific, too: I wanted that Dongpo’s Pork taste that’s pan-fried and then braised for several hours to thicken the sauce, but with limited use of the stove as much as possible. I think my body is still asking for all the calories I burnt while I was hiking Kilimanjaro for six days; all I can think about is rice, food, meat. I’m ravenous–nothing new–and always feeling hungry even more so now.

You can use a Dutch oven here to braise as usual, but I felt like using my clay tagine just because I haven’t used it in a while. It’s smaller than any of my Le Creusets and I felt like it kept the pork all jammed in with all that braised sauce. The quantity of liquids may deter you here, but you can always add rice wine during cooking if you think it’s too salty–nothing some pickles and white rice can’t tone down while eating.

Ingredients:
2 pounds of pork belly
1 bunch of bok choy, thoroughly washed, separated
1 large ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 1/2 cups of rice wine
1/2 cup of soy sauce
6 tbsps of brown sugar

1. In a large pot, cook the pork belly with enough water to submerge them. After the water boils, time for two minutes and then turn off the heat. Remove the pork belly to a chopping block and slice in 1-inch thick pieces.
2. Layer the bottom of a medium-sized Dutch oven with the scallions and ginger. Top with the pork belly. The scallions will keep the pork from sticking to the bottom when braising. Pour in the liquids and sprinkle in the sugar.
3. Cover and simmer for at least two hours, checking every 30 minutes to move the pork around. During the last 15 minutes of cooking, layer in the bok choy–they will wilt quickly enough for every leaf to fit–and cover to cook. Turn off the heat, mix everything together and serve with rice.

Pork Tomatillo Soup

As much as I would like to take credit for this very satisfying soup, I’m unable to because I recreated it from memory after the Dr. made it this winter. I remember walking in his apartment and saying that his place smelled like Taco Mix, the taco stand in his neighborhood. Apparently, it was the best compliment I could have given because he was trying to make a Mexican soup he saw in Anthony Bourdain’s latest Mexico City episode. He replayed the show for me and all he could figure out was that the soup they were served for breakfast was green. The Dr. imagined a whole pork carnitas taco in soup form, so he went to work and boiled down pork with tomatillos, cilantro and lime juice. The finished product was so good, I could not help but ask for a third serving. When we came back from Colombia and I was lamenting about the cold weather, I made it myself. Funny how sometimes a snapshot from a TV show is enough to inspire you to cook.

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized pork picnic
12 tomatillos, peeled from husks and quartered
2 bunches cilantro, thoroughly washed
2 Scotch bonnet peppers, halved, seeds removed
1 red onion, quartered
3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice from 4 limes
salt

1. In a large stockpot, boil the pork picnic in enough water to keep it submerged. Add a generous amount of salt. When impurities float to the top, remove and discard. Lower the heat down to medium-low.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and simmer, covered, for about 2 hours. Using a ladle strainer, try to get as much of the solids and transfer to a food processor. Purée and transfer back to the pot.
3. Cook for another hour or until pork is falling apart. Season with salt and lime juice to taste. It should be a good balance of saltiness and sourness. Serve with rice.

Pernil La Segunda Parte, Pork Shoulder Roast

The family skipped the tasteless turkey this year and opted for what we know best: pork. I wanted to try another friend’s mother’s pernil recipe so I texted Cassy this time around. It’s a completely different recipe from what Lily gave me last year because it does not use Worcestershire sauce or water when cooking.

This recipe brought me back to my old neighborhood of Washington Heights just to buy naranja agrias, or sour oranges. Funny how I grew up seeing them in the stores but have always thought they were just unripe oranges. In a way they are, because their skins are thicker and they definitely taste sour. Cassy’s mom swore to me that they are the secret ingredient to her pernil and that I shouldn’t skip them, but I can’t really say they made much of a difference. I feel like I could have put more lemon and just added the rind in the marinade if I wanted some pithy taste to it.

I used my new KitchenAid lightweight roaster for the first time when I cooked this. I couldn’t believe how light this roaster was, not to mention how pretty the red color is. As far as the pork shoulder was concerned, it cooked evenly especially when I put the lid back on. I felt like the dome-shaped cover distributed the heat as opposed to tenting aluminum foil over the pan like I usually do. I put the rack in place inside so that the pork shoulder was not directly touching the bottom of the roaster–I didn’t want any part of the meat to stick. After cooking, all the rendered fat was at the bottom and some bits burned off, but after a few minutes of soaking in hot soapy water, cleaning it was a snap. Be less spastic than me though, because I put a dent on mine while I was storing it back in the box and already chipped off some of the coating.

Ingredients:
1 pork shoulder, no more than 5 pounds
1 head of garlic, peeled, crushed
juice from 6 sour oranges, or naranja agria
lemon juice from 3 lemons
adobo powder
oregano

1. Marinate the pork shoulder at least 3 days before cooking. Score the pork with a sharp knife and insert garlic cloves in every nook. Using your hands, liberally rub the pork with the dry spices. Put in a large container and add in the juices. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate. Once a day, make sure you turn the meat so that the other side gets soaked in the marinade.
2. Remove pork from marinade and let rest to room temperature in a colander. When ready to cook, heat oven to 400º. Roast pork for 1 hour on a rack in a roasting pan, skin side up, uncovered. Lower the temperature down to 350º and continue to roast for 1.5 hours, covered. Carefully turn the pork shoulder to cook the other side for another 1.5 hours, skin side down, covered. Check the internal temperature of the meat closest to the bone. It should register at least 170º. Switch the oven to broil. Turn the pork shoulder again, skin side up, and cook for another 30 minutes to crisp the skin up.
3. Remove pork from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes before cutting it up.

Ham Hock and Apple Soup

Who ever said pork and apples make a good combination? Maybe it’s because the tartiness of the fruit cuts through the pork’s fat and the sweetness of a good piece of pork complements the apples. I’ve used the pairing several times before but nothing beats this soup from April Bloomfield, chef of the Spotted Pig.

Our mouths watered when we saw a short clip of this soup from the chef’s cooking class. The Dr. and I raced to see who would cook it first. I won, but only because I stayed in all Sunday afternoon to spend five hours of prep and cooking time. Time well spent, I say, as it yielded six servings for two days.

Ingredients:
For ham hock and stock:
3 pieces brined ham hocks
half a gallon apple cider
1 bay leaf
4 peppercorns

For soup:
5 medium carrots, diced
2 medium parsnips, diced
8 pieces of small potatoes, chopped
1 apple, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsps whole grain mustard
oil, salt, pepper

1. Prepare the ham hock and stock. In large stockpot, combine ham hock and stock ingredients, plus enough water to cover. Simmer for about 3 hours or until meat is falling off bone.
2. Remove ham hock and reserve the broth. Pick meat off the bones with two forks. The meat should come off easily. Set the meat aside. Discard bones.
3. When ready to make the soup, heat some oil in a large Dutch oven. Add garlic, onions, carrots and parsnips and cook under medium-low fire until golden brown and soft, about 40 minutes, to concentrate the flavor.
4. Add salt, potatoes and apples. Cook until potatoes are soft. Add ham hock meat and reserved broth and cook for 20 minutes on low until vegetables are broken down. This will help thicken the soup. Ladle in bowls and top with a dollop of mustard to serve.