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Pork cheeks are a lesser-used cut making them difficult to track down in supermarkets although most butchers should be able to supply them. Benefitting from long, slow cooking, pork cheeks have the capacity to be meltingly tender and their flavour holds up well in rich, heady sauces. Cooking them sous vide locks in their abundant natural flavour, and the lower temperature allows for an even longer cooking time – ensuring perfectly tender meat every time.
Replace the white wine with red for a richer, more intense sauce. Cider or a dark beer (such as stout) would also work well.
Pork cheeks also go very well with spices such as cinnamon, cloves and star anise – try adding these to the sauce when reducing.
As they are best cooked in their own rich gravy, pork cheeks are particularly well served with creamy mash or vegetable purées. Graham Campbell serves his Braised pork cheeks with baby leeks, sultana ragu, mash and caraway jus, while Geoffrey Smeddle serves his pork cheeks with a crispy ham hock bon bon, crushed swede and mustard apple compote.
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