‘Ginger Dog’ – ginger-glazed pork cheek sandwich

  • 4
  • 3 hours plus overnight marinating time
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One of the best sandwiches you will ever have the pleasure of devouring, these beautifully sticky, sweet, rich pork cheeks are marinated, braised and glazed in ginger beer, before being stuffed into ciabatta with a pickled ginger coleslaw and plenty of sriracha mayonnaise. Don't be put off by the long cooking time; most of this is hands-off and the results are seriously, seriously worth it!

First published in 2021

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

To serve

Method

1

Place the pork cheeks in a large, deep saucepan and pour the ginger beer over the top with a good pinch of salt. Leave to marinate overnight

  • 1kg pork cheeks, ideally the ‘oyster’ meat from the cheeks (ask your butcher)
  • 750ml of ginger beer
  • sea salt
2

The next day, place the pan over a medium-high heat and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, then cook the cheeks in the beer for 1.5-2 hours until tender (a toothpick inserted into the cheeks should offer no resistance). Once tender, leave the cheeks to cool in the liquid

3

Once cool, lift out the cheeks and set aside. Bring the remaining ginger beer to a simmer, then leave to reduce to a thick glossy syrup

4

Meanwhile, place the cabbages, fennel, almost all of the pickled ginger and spring onions in a bowl and lightly salt them, tossing to combine

5

Once the ginger beer has reduced to a syrup, add the cheeks back into the pan and toss to ensure they’re well glazed. Add the remaining pickled ginger to the pan to refresh the sauce a little

6

To serve, cut the ciabattas in half and lightly toast the cut sides. Cover them with plenty of sriracha mayonnaise, then pile in the ginger coleslaw. Lay the pig cheeks on top and garnish with the herbs. Eat with a fresh glass of ginger beer and sit back and revel in the wonder that is the Ginger Dog!

  • 4 ciabatta buns, small (1 per person)
  • sriracha mayonnaise
  • coriander, roughly chopped
  • mint, roughly chopped
  • chives, finely chopped
First published in 2021

Luke Holder comes by his taste for ultra-authentic local cuisine honestly: he's spent large chunks of his career soaking up regional techniques in far-flung parts of the world.

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