Slow Braised Pork Belly - recipe of a dish from private dinner

I received a few requests asking for the recipe of this dish from the private dining event which I posted here and here. The full name of this dish is Slow Braised Pork Belly with seared slipper lobsters, accompanied by crushed minted peas and marsala jus. Here it is, for those into gourmet food with a cooking process competing to be longer than the list of ingredients.

An additional step not in recipe: grilling lamb bones to enhance flavour

Adding grilled bones to the braising liquid

750ml beef stock made on previous day

Stringing the pork belly with a culinary string

Browning to seal in the juices

Add herbs to meat in braising liquid

Slipper lobsters, also known as crayfish

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

For the slow-braised belly

1 kg slab of pork belly, skin off

1 carrot

1 onion

1 celery

1 leek

few sprigs of rosemary and thyme

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

750ml chicken stock

750ml beef/veal stock

300ml dry white wine (a standard chardonnay will do it)

For the Marsala jus

500ml marsala (costs $30 in cold storage)

Slipper lobsters

12 slipper lobsters

salt and pepper

Mint peas

400g peas (frozen petit pois are perfectly fine)

mint to taste

salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 140 degrees celsius

Season pork belly with salt and pepper, tie up into a log. 

Chop all the vegetables into medium dice and sweat in a casserole pot for 4-5 mins, add herbs. 

Deglaze with white wine, boil down by at least half. Add log of pork belly into casserole

Cover with the stocks, bring to a boil

Once boiling, take off stove, seal tightly with aluminum foil, and braise for 3 hours until pork belly is tender.

Turn the pork belly to ensure even cooking every 1 hour.

To test tenderness, insert skewer into log, if the skewer comes out easily then correct tenderness has been achieved.

Take pork belly out, reserving the braising liquid.

Untie pork belly, and layer a tray large enough to hold the belly with cling film. 

Lay pork belly on cling film, cover with another layer of cling film

Put another tray on top, and weigh down with heavy weights of at least 3kg to ensure pork belly will be perfectly flat and uniform

Chill for at least 6 hours to set shape

Reduce the marsala by half until syrupy, boil down braising liquid by half.

Combine both liquids and boil down some more, until desired taste and viscosity

Deshell slipper lobsters by twisting off heads and cutting the shell off, season with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Saute for 1-2 mins per side until slipper lobsters curl up, and are springy when pressed

Boil frozen petit pois for 3 mins, DO NOT ADD SALT to the boiling water. Peas shell will harden and make it unpleasant to eat. 

Put peas and mint in a food processor and blend lightly until half-mashed.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Private Dining - Behind-the-Scene

Here are some behind-the-scene photos I took from the recent private dining event.

Lamb bones just out of the oven...

And into a pot of sweated mirepoix, with chicken stock and beef stock made from the previous day.

One slab of pork belly stringed and cut into half before going into the pot above.

Heating sugar to make syrup and pralines.

Almond pralines. One of the rare occasions I'm prepared to put that much sugar into my mouth.

Yiyi also prepared home made ice cream. Here, he taught me how to know when heating cream and milk in a pot is ready. With your finger, draw a line across the wooden spoon. When the cream mixture does not drip into the dividing line, that's when it's at 84 degrees Celsius and ready.

He invested in an Epicurean bread making board and swears by it.

A Southern France bread - Fougasse (which means Focus) with sundried tomatoes and kalamata olives.

The starter dough was prepared the night before, and the process which needs 3 proofs took almost all day.

Fougasse is distinguished by its slashed holes, traditionally cut in a ladder or tree shape.

And yes, unfortunately, our young friend got over-enthusiastic and sliced off some of himself on a mandolin. We can now certify him a real chef who has said his farewell to the good life of a doctor, lawyer or engineer.

Next up: Recipe of Slow Braised Pork Belly - because you asked for it!

Private Dining by young passionate chef swallowing life in big gulps

Amateur table setting is not important when good conversations take center stage

Yiyi made news in the local papers as a pre-university graduate who is deviating from the doctor-engineer-lawyer path set before him to enrol as a student at Le Cordon Bleu London. His parents are highly supportive of the pursuit of his culinary passion after the initial shock.

I reached out to Yiyi and invited him to cook for a few of my friends because his story struck a chord with me and he is hoping to cook at as many private dinners as possible before his enrolment in September.

I spent a few hours cooking with him the day before the actual dinner to get to know him and his food better. My time was certainly well spent as this young man inspired me throughout the afternoon with his quiet yet strong conviction for food and God, and his sense of fearlessness in the kitchen.

Here are some pictures of his food that I am proud to show you.

Complimentary Starter Sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives and oregano fougasse. I baked this bread with him a day earlier. I call it "a whole day bread" as that was almost how long it took with a starter dough and 3 proofs.

Amuse Bouche Roasted Tomato Soup with basil foam

Starter 1 Roasted Hokkaido Scallops with cauliflower puree, parmesan foam, chervil oil and jamon iberico de bellota (cured Spanish ham)

Starter 2 Slow-braised Pork Belly with seared slipper lobsters, crushed minted peas and marsala jus (2 friends who hate peas actually wiped their plates clean!)

Main Lamb Shoulder Confit, roasted lamb loin, celeriac puree, buttered baby vegetables, beetroot and thyme jus - a burst of flavours with different colours and texture

Pre Dessert Lemongrass with mint Granita as a palate cleanser

Dessert Bread Pudding - Valrhona Ivoire white chocolate, peanut butter and banana bread pudding, with orange blossom honey ice cream and caramelised bananas - a hit with everyone

Complimentary Apple Sorbet with almond praline and cider syrup (I made this with him the day before)

Do you see a cross between a green snowman and an angel with a halo?

As with all good dinners, the focus of the conversation is not on the food. I don't remember what we talked about but I do remember laughing a lot last night. Not the ROFL type but a constant tickling of the ribs and just feeling good about friends around the dinner table and life in general. Some good wine help of course.

As for Yiyi, I beamed with pride in introducing him to my friends. This is one young man swallowing life in big gulps. Every plate was returned to the kitchen empty. You can tell I am so ready to adopt him. Do check him out here and here. His interest is purely on cooking so don't expect stunning shots or elaborate write-ups.

Next post: I'll show you some behind-the-scenes of this event including the making of the fougasse, the pork belly and one bad kitchen injury!

Japanese Cold Soba - So Good

"In my hands I hold a bowl of Soba.

I see the goodness of nature represented in its colour.

Closing my eyes I find the freshness of green fields,

And the purity of nature within my heart."

Beautiful words uttered by Soba Master Yoshinori Shibazaki.

Soba is my Word of the Week for this week. If you're not convinced of the health benefits of Soba, go back and read that post. 

My son suggested to me that we get rid of all instant noodles in the house and replace them completely with Soba. What a brilliant idea. And as God would have it, the wretched aunty that I've become found out quite by chance that they are on a special this week in the supermarket. Only S$3.50 for 270g pack of organic soba and 200g of organic cha-soba (green tea buckwheat noodles). Hakubaku is one of the few brands to have its packaging in English since it's from Australia. What has Australia got to do with Japanese soba? Well, did you know Tasmania climate, which never exceeds 25 degrees C, offers one of the best places in the world for soba cultivation and storage?

His suggestion was inspired by my ban on ordering cold soba in Japanese restaurants we normally patronise. It's such daylight robbery by the restaurants to charge so much for cooking this 3 minute noodle, and no culinary skills needed - just boil water and cook the noodles like you would with pasta! You don't even need oil or salt as you sometimes do in pasta. Plunge them into ice cold water after 3 minutes to kill the cooking. 

Serve with Japanese shoyu - this is also the dipping sauce for the cold noodle and sprinkle with a Japanese sesame, salt and seaweed mix. Totally no frills, and just the way my kids like it. The restaurants here usually add a quail egg and sprinkle some spring onions to garnish.

 

I have to tell you about this hand painted - not machine-printed - Japanese fan we bought from Kyoto many years back. It costs more than US$50! It's one of those souvenirs from our travel that remind me of my early years with my dear husband - he would part with such money to support art and I would not. Enough said.

Soba is definitely going to be a regular in this household. How does cold soba on a hot day sound to you?

Word of the Week - Soba

No, it's not Society of Beer Advocates. Soba, or buckwheat noodle, is a thin Japanese noodle found at fast food outlets as well as in high end restaurants. It is served either chilled with a dipping sauce or hot in a flavorful dashi-based broth. Because of its long and slender shape, many Japanese associate soba with stability and longevity and that's why it's often eaten on special occasions.

Soba contains numerous amino acids, one of which helps in calcium absorption and aids in the production of antibodies and collagen. Another helps in tissue and muscle repair. It contains twice as much protein as polished rice, and there is more protein in soba than lean beef, according to Soba Master Yoshinori Shibazaki.

I got myself a whole load of Hakubaku organic soba today from the supermarket. Check out the Hakubaku website - there are 73 soba recipes in it.

Next post: Cold Soba!

If you're new to this blog, click here to read what Word of the Week is about.