SPICY BARBECUE PORK BELLY WITH SALTED SPRING ONIONS, SSAMJANG SAUCE & KIMCHI

SERVES 4-6 / PREPARATION 15 MINUTES PLUS 24 HOURS BRINING TIME / COOKING 6 HOURS

This dish was inspired by the pork bo ssam served at Momofuku (Los Angeles), but adapted to go onto Euro’s new menu.

FOR THE PORK BELLY

120g salt

1kg pork belly

2 medium-sized carrots, roughly chopped

2 small onions, roughly chopped

1 bulb garlic

3 star anise

3 dried chillies

1 stick cinnamon

1 cup ssamjang sauce (a spicy, fermented bean paste,

available from Korean markets or supermarket)

FOR THE SALTED SPRING ONIONS

1 bunch spring onions, green tops only 200ml chardonnay vinegar

CONDIMENTS

400g jasmine rice

1 cup kimchi (available from Korean markets

or supermarket), to serve

1 cup hoisin sauce, to serve

6 leaves wombok, to serve

6 leaves butter lettuce, to serve

6 leaves baby cos, to serve ( I used ‘Crunch Eater’ brand)

To make a brine, boil 1½ litres water and add the salt. Allow to cool then add another 1½ litres water. Submerge the pork belly in the brine for 24 hours.

To cook the pork belly, heat a barbecue with a minimum amount of hot coals and wood offset; you want the temperature to be around 100℃ and with plenty of smoke so that you can smoke the pork slowly. Score the fatty side of the pork belly and place it on the barbecue for 3 hours.

Heat the oven to 140℃. Put the carrot and onions in a large pot or casserole dish that is big enough to contain the pork belly, smash the garlic cloves and mix together with the star anise, dried chillies and cinnamon and add to the bottom of the pot.

After 3 hours with plenty of smoke remove the pork from the barbecue, smother with the ssamjang sauce, place in the dish on top of the chopped vegetables and cover with a lid.

Cook the pork belly for 2 hours in the oven with the lid on, then a further 1 hour with the lid off to glaze. Once cooked, serve straight away with tongs to break up the meat. The meat should fall apart and be full of juice.

While the meat is cooking, prepare the salted spring onions to serve alongside. Slice the green tops of the spring onions and season generously with salt. Leave in the refrigerator for 4 hours and then squeeze out any moisture using a small cloth. Stir through the chardonnay vinegar.

To cook the rice, wash in cold water several times to remove the starch. Put into a saucepan and add enough water to cover the rice by approximately 2cm. Cover the pan, place over a medium heat until the rice is boiling, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

To serve, arrange the salted spring onions, kimchi and hoisin sauce in small ramekins, put the leaves together in a bowl and the cooked rice in a separate bowl. Either transfer the pork belly and vegetables to a suitable serving dish or place on the table in the dish you cooked it in. To eat, use a lettuce leaf to wrap a little pork and some rice and top with your choice of condiments.