Cured Sous Vide Pork Belly Recipe

Main
medium
4
2 hours 30 minutes, plus 24 hours curing and cooking time

PT2H30M

PT24H

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.

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Ingredients

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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

2 Bramley apples
1 Granny Smith apple

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

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Deep fat fryer
Liquidiser
Dehydrator
Sous vide equipment

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

The next day, preheat a water bath to 70°C

Wash the belly for a minimum of 10 minutes, pat dry and vacuum seal. Place in the water bath for 24 hours

Once the pork belly is cooked, remove from the bag, cut into portions and chill until required

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

1 pork belly skin

Preheat a dehydrator or oven to 60°C

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

Preheat a deep-fat fryer to 180°C

rapeseed oil, or sunflower oil, for frying

Break the skin into small pieces and fry until very lightly browned and chewy. Drain and season as desired and set aside until ready to serve

salt
pepper

Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5

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

2 Bramley apples
1 Granny Smith apple

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

Remove the sprigs of thyme, place the celeriac pieces in a liquidiser and blend until smooth, adding splashes of the milk to bring the purée together. Pass through a fine strainer, taste for seasoning and set aside in a piping bag

salt
pepper

Preheat a water bath to 87°C

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

Once ready to serve, preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6

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

Meanwhile, remove the carrot spheres from the vacuum bag, drain and pat dry. Colour in a hot pan with a knob of butter, salt and pepper

1 knob of butter
salt
pepper

Before serving, heat the purées and the red wine jus in separate pans on the hob

150ml of red wine jus

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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