I would have the guts to include this dish (not necessarily like this) in the menu of a fancy pub or, after polishing it, in the menu of a restaurant. I would have the courage to cook it at home more often, but unfortunately, I’ve been missing the time spent at home recently. Well, since long introductions are the death of narration, I will cut to the chase:
For six servings, you need 1,5-1,6 kilos of pork belly with skin, coarse salt, peppercorn, a bit of thyme, a tray, an oven, parchment paper, something to press the meat with (another tray in which you can put a large rock or a couple of bricks) and, if you’d like, various vegetables to make a decent side dish.
Dealing with the meat is simple: season it well with salt, pepper, thyme. Place the parchment paper in a tray (be careful, it leaves grease, so the tray must have a certain depth). Cover it with another piece of parchment paper and press it with another tray in which you put the bricks or the rock). It’s important for the weight to be distributed evenly on the surface of the meat, as it’s equally important to put the meat in the tray with the skin side upwards. If you want pieces of meat with crunchy skin, leave the meat covered in salt overnight, and if you want the skin to be tender, don’t do that (you can also get crunchy skin after cutting it into portions, using a kitchen torch or browning the meat in the skillet, with the skin side downwards, on parchment paper).
Roasting time: 2,5-3 hours. Temperature: 160-165 degrees Celsius. Taking in consideration that this is a pretty greasy piece of meat, you can increase the oven time to 3,5 hours and reduce the temperature by 10 degrees Celsius.
It pairs well with horseradish, colored vegetables, light sauces. That’s all for today. Stay healthy.
Special thanks to
Oana Bodnariuc, Authorized Translator
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