Preparation Time: 20 minutes / Cooking Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes / Serves 6
Ingredients
Pork Belly
- 2 kg pork belly, boneless & skin scored 4mm thick
- 2 ltr milk
- 3 cardamom, crushed slightly
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- ¼ whole nutmeg, finely grated
- 4 slices ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
- sea salt
- olive oil
- 2 bunches watercress, picked, washed & dried
- lemon oil
Cauliflower Puree
- 1 cauliflower, chopped
- milk to cover
- 100 g butter
- 150 ml pure cream
- ground white pepper & sea salt to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Rub oil & salt onto the skin & crevasses well. Heat a large sauté pan over a medium heat and add a little olive oil. Place the pork belly skin down and cook slowly until golden & crisp, pressing down on contactless areas if needed. Be careful as it has a tendency to spit.
- Meanwhile place the milk & spices into a saucepan and warm gently over a low heat. Season the bottom of the pork belly with salt and then place into a high sided roasting tray. Carefully pour the milk & spices into the tray until it comes 2/3 of the way up the pork. Place into the oven & cook for 15 minutes then turn the heat down to 160°C and cook for 1 hour or until tender. Remove from the oven & allow to rest in the pan for 20 minutes.
- For the cauliflower puree: Place the cauliflower onto a saucepan & cover with the milk. Cover with a cartouche made from baking paper and cook for 30 minutes over a low heat (as not to scorch the milk on the bottom of the pan) or until tender. Drain well in a colander & discard the milk. Place the cauliflower into a blender and add the butter, cream, salt & ground white pepper to taste. Reserve in a small saucepan with a lid to keep warm.
- To serve: Reheat the pork belly for 5 minutes in the oven on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place some cauliflower puree on each plate. Slice the pork belly along the cuts and place 2 slices on each plate. Scatter the watercress whimsically then drizzle the lot with a little lemon oil and finish with a little salt.
Notes
For a unique beverage to pair with the pork belly, try Christian McCabe’s lightly spiced, smoky herb milk infusion. You can find that recipe here.