Where to buy Pork Belly archived

Whole Foods has it in the butcher section if I remember properly.

You can get it from the Asian Market - Kam Man Foods - in East Hanover.

This is a basic but great pork belly recipe. Original source is here:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Chef+Smackdown+Derek+Dammann+David+Ferguson+battle+over+pork+belly/4741780/story.html

1 whole pork belly, skin on

10 yellow onions, peeled and cut in half, core left attached

12 cloves of garlic, skin on

Sea salt and black pepper

1 bunch fresh marjoram

Before you go to bed the day prior to cooking, score the belly with a razor blade, ½ inch (1 cm) deep and ¾ inch (2 cm) apart against the grain. (Make sure the belly is free of any little hairs. You might have to give it a shave.) Rub the sea salt generously all over the skin side, making sure to get into the scores. Repeat with pepper.

Place on a tray, and leave on the counter in a cool, dry place (like a basement), not the refrigerator. Don’t worry about leaving it out for 6 hours or so. What will happen is that the salt will help in drying out the skin so you get a nice crackling. Also, putting a large piece of refrigerated, skin-on meat into a hot oven will create steam and make the skin not so fun.

Season your onions and garlic with salt and pepper and place in a deep roasting tray. Put the pork on top, so some of the onions are under and some are peeking out. Preheat your oven to 475 degrees F (240C). Put the pork on the middle rack and cook for 45 minutes until the skin starts to crisp up.

At this point, add a bit of water to the pan, just enough to cover the onions halfway (think alligators in a swamp), turn the oven down to 350 degrees F (180C) and cook the belly for five hours. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Remove the pork and veg from the pan and transfer to a warm place. Skim the fat from the liquid (save this to fry eggs) and reduce the juice down by half. You don’t want a glaze; you want a loose, flavourful jus. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Parsley-Mustard Sauce

Makes about 2 cups

Dammann also recommends this sauce on corned beef or melted Gruyère sandwiches.

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (155 mL) shallots, finely diced

1/4 cup (50 mL) red wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon (large pinch) salt

3/4 cup (175 mL) flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon (15 mL) whole-grain mustard

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (155 mL) extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

Sea salt and black pepper

Place the shallots, vinegar and salt in a small bowl, and let marinate for 10 minutes. Pound the parsley with a mortar and pestle and add it to the shallots. Whisk in the mustard and olive oil and season with the lemon juice, a pinch of pepper and salt.

Be careful. They made a movie about this. (For Pete's Sake)

It was about pork belly options, and, as I recall, they actually had to take delivery of the bellies. On the hoof.

Eden often has it on the meat shelf. My one try so far was a disaster; maybe I'll give that recipe a shot next time I pick one up.

I think you have to decide how you like pork belly - I know some people who will only eat it totally crisped out and others who don't mind a softer, more unctuous preparation. I like a mix - crisp outside, soft inside.

This is one of the things that I find I prefer to eat in a good restaurant rather than prepare at home. I've bought it from Whole Foods and Fresh Direct.

go skin on

eliz said:

This is one of the things that I find I prefer to eat in a good restaurant rather than prepare at home.

Agree completely. If I make pork belly at home I prefer it in bacon form.

The best way to cook pork belly is Hong Kong style. Just don't eat it more than once a year if you want to be healthy!

Instead of spending WF or Eden prices, you might want to check out Seabras on Morris Ave.

dave said:

The best way to cook pork belly is Hong Kong style. Just don't eat it more than once a year if you want to be healthy!

I agree. I've made it at home but it takes 3 days! Too much work for something that's eaten in an instance.

But if you want to do it, yes, Kam Man has it, and I've also gotten it in Shop-Rite, Millburn and at Corrado's.

Try Lutz Pork Store in Union. There is another on Morris at Liberty (Kramer?).

I too have only had it in restaurants. I like it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I didn't know it took so long to prep. I thought it could be done over night. We are looking to cook something we have never cooked before... Maybe there's a good reason we have never cooked pork belly.

This is what we ended up making.(actually my 15 year old made it). It turned out very well. We had a spinach salad along with it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/tangerine-glazed-pork-belly-recipe/index.html