Cured pork belly, baked apple and crackling
Item 1 of 1
- medium
- 4
- 2 hours 30 minutes
Richard Davies shows off his full armoury of techniques in this sophisticated main, curing pork belly in an aromatic spice rub before cooking sous vide for an unctuous finish. A few carefully prepared autumnal accompaniments such as apple, carrots and celeriac round off this sous vide pork belly recipe perfectly.
First published in 2015
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Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Pork belly
- 400g of pork belly
- 100g of sugar
- 100g of salt
- 1 tbsp of smoked paprika
- 2 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 dash of oil
Crackling
- 1 pork belly skin
- rapeseed oil, or sunflower oil, for frying
- salt
- pepper
Baked apple purée
Celeriac purée
- 1 celeriac
- milk
- 1 garlic, peeled and bruised
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- salt
- pepper
Heritage carrots
- 4 heritage carrots, 2 yellow, 2 purple
- 1 knob of butter, small
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- salt
- pepper
To serve
- 150ml of red wine jus
SAVE RECIPE
Equipment
- Deep fat fryer
- Liquidiser
- Dehydrator
- Sous vide equipment
Method
1
To prepare the pork belly, add the salt and sugar to a bowl, then mix in the spices. Sprinkle some of the mix onto a tray and lay the pork belly on top, skin-side down. Sprinkle the exposed side of the pork with the remaining cure and place in the fridge for 24 hours
- 400g of pork belly
- 100g of sugar
- 100g of salt
- 1 tbsp of smoked paprika
- 2 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
2
The next day, preheat a water bath to 70°C
3
Wash the belly for a minimum of 10 minutes, pat dry and vacuum seal. Place in the water bath for 24 hours
4
Once the pork belly is cooked, remove from the bag, cut into portions and chill until required
5
For the crackling, remove any excess fat from the pork belly skin and place in a pan of cold water. Bring to a simmer, cover with a cartouche and cook for approximately 2 hours, until you can pinch through the skin
6
Preheat a dehydrator or oven to 60°C
7
Drain the liquid, allow the skin to cool slightly and place on a non-stick baking mat. Place in the dehydrator or oven until the skin is crispy and dry
8
Preheat a deep-fat fryer to 180°C
- rapeseed oil, or sunflower oil, for frying
10
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5
11
To prepare the apple purée, sit the apples on a non-stick baking mat and bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes until cooked and soft. Transfer to a liquidiser, process until smooth and pass through a fine chinois
12
For the celeriac purée, roughly dice the celeriac and add to a pan. Pour in enough milk to cover and add the garlic and thyme. Cook on a steady simmer until tender, then drain off the milk into a jug
- 1 celeriac
- milk
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
14
Preheat a water bath to 87°C
15
Peel the carrots and use a Parisienne spoon/melon baller to create small spheres of carrot. Add the spheres to a vacuum bag and seal with some seasoned butter, thyme and rosemary. Cook in the water bath for approximately 30 minutes
- 4 heritage carrots, 2 yellow, 2 purple
- 1 knob of butter
- salt
- pepper
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- 1 garlic
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
16
Once ready to serve, preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6
17
Remove the pork belly portions from the fridge and add a dash of oil to a hot pan. Once the oil is hot, add the pork and colour evenly all over, then transfer to the oven for 4-5 minutes to heat through
- 1 dash of oil
19
Before serving, heat the purées and the red wine jus in separate pans on the hob
- 150ml of red wine jus
20
To serve, place the pork on each plate and dot the purées alongside. Scatter the carrots across the plates and finish with some pork crackling and a drizzle of red wine jus. Serve immediately
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