Pork Belly

Okay, this is not something that resides in any of my memories from days past, but after tasting pork belly, it is now in there.  Pork belly is the cut of the pig that gets cured and turned into bacon. But pork belly before the smoking or salt-curing is a really fatty piece of flesh that needs special treatment to become the succulent delicious treat it is destined to be.

This cut of meat must render away as much of the fat as possible, similar to cooking duck..   I brine the pork belly for a day and a half, in a water and sea salt solution of 1/4 c. salt to 2 c, water.

When ready to cook the pork, pre-heat the oven to 350º.  First thing I do is score the skin, cutting hatch marks and making sure not to cut into the meat. Add a bit of fresh ground pepper on all sides of the meat.

Next, dice celery onion and carrot, (this is called a mirepoix in kitchen vernacular,) you'll need enough to cover the bottom  of a shallow baking dish with 1/2 cup chicken stock.

Place the pork belly skin side up on the mirepoix and cook  uncovered in the oven for about twenty minutes. At the end of twenty minutes, turn down the heat to 200º and cook at this lower temperature for 4 hours.

Remove the pork belly and allow to rest. pour the mirepoix ino a sieve and drain off as much of the fat as you can.  Meanwhile heat a bit of peanut oil in a frying pan and when the oil starts to shimmer place the pork skin side down into the hot oil to crisp up the skin.

The skin will turn bubbly and crunchy like the pork rind you can buy at the truck stops on the interstate highway. Slice into chunks and serve with the mirepoix. This is some tasty puerco, my friends.