Confit Pork Belly, Granola, Earl Grey Soaked Prunes, Spiced Fritter

Mark Stinchcombe

Mark Stinchcombe

7th March 2016
Mark Stinchcombe

Confit Pork Belly, Granola, Earl Grey Soaked Prunes, Spiced Fritter

With a selection of delicious pork cuts available, cooking methods and flavour pairings are exceptionally varied when it comes to pork recipes. Take a look at the Confit Pork Belly, Granola, Earl Grey Soaked Prunes, Spiced Fritter recipe below, as tried and tested by professional chefs - Why not give it a try? Serves 6

Ingredients

  • Ingredients
  • For the belly:
  • ½ pork belly (boneless/skinless)
  • 2 litres duck fat
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • 100g rock salt
  • For the granola:
  • 200g porridge oats
  • 35g honey
  • 35g maple syrup
  • 40g butter
  • 75g sugar
  • 10g salt
  • 6g mixed spices
  • For the prunes:
  • 200g pitted prunes
  • 2 Earl Grey tea bags
  • 100g sugar
  • 400ml water
  • 1 star anise
  • For the spiced fritter:
  • 800g pork shoulder
  • 2 tbsp mixed spice
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • 3 cms fresh ginger
  • 1 cooking onion, peeled and finely diced
  • 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
  • 2 celery sticks, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • Small dash of vegetable oil
  • 200g tomato puree
  • Flour for coating fritter
  • 3 free range medium eggs, beaten
  • 200g bread crumbs

Method

For the belly:

1 Place pork belly in a roasting tin. Cut up the garlic, thyme and rosemary, then mix all together with the rock salt and sprinkle over the pork belly.

2 Massage the seasoning into the meat and cover with cling film, place in the fridge to marinade for 4 hours. Once marinated, wash the salt mix off the pork belly by holding under cold running water, pat dry the meat in a clean tea towel.

3 Place the duck fat in an ovenproof, large saucepan, melt the fat over a medium heat, do not boil. Once melted, add the pork belly, make sure the meat is fully submerged in the duck fat and then cover with tin foil. Cook in pre heated oven 120°C for 1 ½ hours.

4 Once cooked, remove pork belly from the duck fat. Allow to cool before portioning into 6 pieces, then colour in a frying pan until golden.

5 Reserve for plating.

For the granola:

1 Bring the honey, maple syrup, butter, sugar, salt and mixed spice to the boil. Add the porridge oats and stir.

2 Once incorporated, place into pre heated oven 180°C for 12 minutes or until golden.

3 The granola will keep for several months in a kilner jar or airtight container.

For the prunes:

1 Bring all the ingredients to a gentle boil, then remove from the heat.

2 Steep the prunes in the liquid and reserve for plating.

3. The prunes can be kept in the fridge if you don’t use them all.

For the spiced fritter:

1 In a large, ovenproof saucepan over a medium heat, sweat off the onion, celery and carrots in oil until soft. Add the spices and tomato puree, place in the pork shoulder and top with cold water.

2 Bring the saucepan up to the boil, then cover with tin foil and braise in pre heated oven 120°C for 4 hours. Once cooked, remove the shoulder from the liquid and shred into small pieces. Pass the liquid through a sieve and add 4 tbsps of liquid to the meat, season to taste.

3 Roll into balls and set in the fridge. Dip and coat the balls firstly in the flour, then beaten egg mixture, finally coat in breadcrumbs.

4 Deep fry before serving.

5 Reduce the remaining liquid until it begins to thicken, this will be about ¾. This is the sauce to go onto the plate.

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