We here at foodisthebestshitever are venturing forward in a new direction, we shall go forth and expand our culinary vision and facilitate this vision through the exploration of contemporary cuisines previously unbeknownst to us. We shall visit regions previously deemed out of reach, in the spirit of searching out something totally new and different.
Yes folks, today we shall be exploring the wonderful work of… well… pork.
Ok, you got me. I’m not doing anything profound or original for this blog. I am merely cooking pork again and am trying to make myself feel better about my addiction. I use the local free-range pork if that’s any conciliation for the armchair activists out there.
Today I’m talking pork belly.
Pork belly is one of my favouritest pieces of meat of all time. If I were a gay man I still think pork belly would be at the top of my favourite meat list. There is not a whole heap I don’t like about pork belly; it is flavoursome, luscious, tasty, delicious, really good and a whole heap of other synonyms for the same word. It is a meal that I always want a little more of, and I always cook extra so I have leftovers for the next day… and mostly that extra pork even makes it to the next day. Actually, a lot of the time we eat it all on the night… well, most of the time. You see, Jennee brings her “we all know the crackling won’t be any good tomorrow” game to the table (what I like to call her A game) and generally manages to convince us that it’s OK to finish the lot now because it is a certainty the crackling will contract a disease rendering it flaccid and inedible, in turn contaminating the remaining pork and making it unfit for human consumption.
Well, this night I was going to take my chances with flaccid crackling and rancid meat, as I was already hella keen on pork belly for my dinner again tomorrow. Hella keen…
We have had a good harvest of heirloom carrots and kale so they featured heavily in the meal. This is truly my favourite eating; food that comes from our own garden or is grown by people close to us. Food that was cared for before it hit the pan. Food that, well, food that just doesn’t come from one of the big supermarkets really…
The belly didn’t really fit into the pan but eventually it did after a bit of post coital shrinkage set in
Porky belly all cooked up
Those roast vegetables were damn fine
Yes, those roast vegetables
ROASTED PORK BELLY with VEGETABLES FROM THE GARDEN (serves 4)
1.5 – 2kg pork belly. That should be enough for leftovers…
½ – 1 teaspoon garlic powder
A good pinch of salt and pepper
A selection of vegetables from the garden/fridge. We had potatoes, heirloom carrots, radish and onion
½ tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
A bit more seasoning
Olive oil
Sautéed curly kale and jagallo nero (a spindly awesome type of kale) with oyster sauce and carrot top salsa verde to serve
• Pre heat oven to 160C
• Season pork belly with salt, pepper and garlic powder
• Roast pork belly in oven for 2.5-3 hours until the smell causes you mouth to water and your loins to stir, and it is super tender
• While pork is cooking chop your assorted vegetables into fairly similar sized chunks. Put them into a separate oven dish, lube up with a splash of rendered fat from the pork belly, splash with the vinegar and season. After the pork has been cooking for 1.5 hours the vegetables can go into the oven too. Roast for one hour or until vegetables are just cooked, and then remove from oven until pork is ready. Once pork is ready turn the oven up to 180-200C and return the vegetables to the oven for a final five to ten minutes to get a bit of crispness, and that should do the job on the pork crackling for you too (if crackling is being a bit stubborn a few minutes under the grill (broiler) will sort it out)
• Carve the pork and serve with roast vegetables, carrot top salsa verde and sautéed greens… and try not to eat it all tonight…
One more look at that pork belly
AWESOME
Thank you my friend 👌
That’s wonderful. I can see that you scored the skin. I NEED a pork belly!
Always with the scored skin – ten out of ten for this one 😜
Yes you certainly do need a pork belly.
It’s not that I don’t love the look of the porky porky goodness but those veggies, oh my, and the black vinegar atop? Inspired Food, just inspired. (Enjoyed your pork adjectives, obviously the words were not hiding from you.) 😁
They weren’t hiding on this day but… I dunno… Got no words…
And the veges were delish Mrs Cheer 😁
That pork…. those veggies… hell yes, I want in on that feast
It was proper good eating my friend 🙌
It always is with you, it always is! *insert awesome picture here*
Cheers hombre 👍
Yessir, pork belly is all that and then some.
I’ve been spending my summer gaining weight off of it, believe me – I know it’s good.
Thank God you’re not closer or I’d have the enter doors sideways.
Pork belly is the shizzzz
I always find myself studying your recipes…this one is awesome! Love it all. Really like the sautéed kale(s) w/carrot top salsa verde! It’s a beautiful meal.
Thank you my friend. The kale was a standout… actually, it was all a bit of a standout. Really damn tasty! 🙂
Gorgeous looking dish. Absolutely love pork belly.
Thank you my friend. Every one needs to love pork belly! 🙌
I bought a beautiful Pork Belly last week from this crazy Asian market … crazy because of all the WEIRD and WONDERFUL looking food I have NO IDEA what to do with … anyway, I digress … the belly was freekin’ over the top delish !! Can’t wait to get another one and experiment some more 🙂
Agreed. Asian markets are one of my favourite places to hang out because of all of the wild and wonderful things they hold… I always grab something that I have no idea what to do with and give it a bash 🙌
You’re more adventurous than me m8 … I do still love to go though 🙂
God that looks superb – yes I said GOD, god of food hm hm
Why thank you my friend. I’m sure he would approve 😁
Gorgeous. Just gorgeous!
And tasty. Don’t forget and tasty 😜
Cheers my friend.
Pork belly …. mhhhhhh …. years of pork-belly-addiction-therapy down the drain … must get my hands on this ….
Pork belly addiction therapy should be banned, full stop! Go Ginge you bad thing, pork belly and be free!!! *insert your favourite crazed laughter here*
Seriously? You think I can just, like, tuck in?!
I wouldn’t joke about this sort of stuff G…
Hahahahaha!!!!!
I thought I was the only one with a pork addiction… I now know I’m not alone!! Looks ‘crackling’!! Hahaha!!
There are many of us my friend. I think we need a support group 😜
Yep! It should be called BLA-Bacon
Lovers Anonymous!! Hahahahaha!!
Amen that… but oh too quickly it would turn from a support group to a cult 🙂
Hehehe!! Yep,then it may turn to cannibalism if we run out of meat!! Ha!
No words! 😀 This pork looks incredibly tasty! I wish I could get a large piece right now! 🙂
It worth getting hold of a nice piece of pork at every available opportunity!