If there’s a single cut of meat or dish that exemplifies the trends in fine dining over the past five years, it’s probably the pork belly. First of all, there is the celebration of all things pig-related (in fact, it’s become de rigeur for a certain kind of edgy younger cook to brandish a pig tattoo somewhere on his body); second, there is love for rustic and hearty food; third, there is the cultivation of lesser known cuts of the animalpork belly takes its place next to headcheese, pig’s feet, and pig’s ears as a cut that taken on a welcome second life at the table.
The craze for pork belly, which reached its peak with New York chef David Chang’s famous steamed pork buns (made with confited Berkshire Farms pork belly), was initiated by chef Tom Colicchio, who introduced it in his restaurant Craft. In his book “Think Like a Chef,” he mentions that the dish didn’t sell at all until he renamed it as “fresh bacon.”
So is pork belly in fact a lesser-known cut of meat? Well, it depends how you look at it. Americans of course eat more pork belly than any other cut of pig, but almost exclusively in the form of bacon, which is pork belly that is cured and smoked. If you prepare it the way contemporary chefs do, cut into a pave, roasted and glazed, it becomes, in effect, a different cut of meat than our familiar bacon.
In my recipe, the pork belly is cured with salt, sugar and Asian five spice powder (which has a touch of cinnamon and star anise, as well Sichuan peppercorns, which have the complex numbing properties that tarragon has), roasted, then crisped to give it a little textural contrast. Finally, it’s glazed with a sweet- sour mixture of tangerine juice, brown sugar and yuzu juice (a tart citrus that’s available in Asian groceries).
Roasted Pork Belly With Tangerine Glaze
Ask your butcher for pork belly. Serves 8.
Ingredients
BELLY
2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
2 pounds pork belly
GLAZE
2 cups tangerine juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons yuzu juice
Directions
The night before: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the salt, sugar and five spice powder. Rub the mixture all over the pork belly. Refrigerate the pork belly covered overnight
The next day: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place the pork belly in a small baking dish and cover with foil. Roast 4 hours or until the belly is tender and the meat “gives” when pressed with the finger. Cut the belly into 8 equal squares, place in a dish covered with any fat the belly has rendered and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
To make the glaze: In a small pan reduce the tangerine juice and brown sugar by three quarters, until thick but not caramelized. Whisk in the yuzu juice and refrigerate.
To finish: In a nonstick pan over low heat, slowly brown the pork belly on both sides in a little bit of its rendered fat. Glaze the belly pieces all over with the tangerine glaze. Serve with lentils or a tart green salad.
