I used pork belly on the bone, and I brined it for a couple of hours in a solution of 1l of water, 80gr salt and 30gr of sugar. It would have been better to brine it overnight, but I didn't have the time and I decided to take that shortcut this time. At least next time, when I will be doing it the proper way, I will know the difference. After brining the pork, I quickly washed and vacuum packed it together with a "herb sachet" containing black peppercorns and thyme.Herb sachets are used to let the aromas of the herbs circulate within the vacuum pack without entering in direct contact with the meat, therefore avoiding concentration of flavour at specific spots.
I made my herb sachet by wrapping the herbs into a cling film, and then trimming the edges to let the liquid go through the sachet.
I sealed the pork in a vacuum bag together with about 80ml of chicken stock.
Finally, I slow-cooked the pork at 180F (82.2C) for 12 hours, then removed it from the water bath, chilled it and refrigerated. At the time of serving, I opened the pack and set aside the gelatin surrounding the meat (this forms during the slow cooking process followed by refrigeration). I removed the skin from each piece of belly and crisped it on a non-stick pan, skin side down (no added oil necessary) on high-heat. At the same time, on a normal stick metal pan, I browned each piece of pork on a thin film of canola oil. Once browned, I removed the pork and deglazed with a splash of Marsala wine (the Italian touch that does magic with pork!), and once the alcohol evaporated I added the gelatin and another 40ml of chicken stock. I reduced the sauce over 4-5 minutes, then served it with the pork bellies, topped with their own crispy skin.
4 comments:
I've done this exact same thing at home but instead of doing it sous-vide, I just slow-cooked it in the oven at a low temperature. I believe your pork belly should be much more tender than mine!
That's right, that's the traditional way, which is just as good! Typically, everything you do in sous-vide can also be done with traditional methods, but the resulting textures can be very different. Basically, for home cooking, you can use the oven wisely and reach similar results. I also successfully sous-vided a fillet in the oven, by setting it to 57C degrees and placing the fillet in a hot bath. But this will only succeed if you have a fairly accurate oven :) Said that, keeping an oven at 85C degrees should be even more achievable.
When I first tried to sous vide pork belly, I was a little disappointed because I was expecting a melt in your mouth texture(Similar to that used in braised belly dishes like Dong Po pork), but after having a few more bites of the sous vide belly, I found the pork flavour to be a lot more intense, and the firmer texture allowed it to be plated as a main more easily.
Hi - I'm going to try your recipe tomorrow!
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