SMOKED PORK CHEEK WITH COCONUT SAUCE, FINGER LIME & LYCHEES

I came up with this dish when asked to help prepare a welcome dinner for international guests for the 2012 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. It sums up some of the flavours and techniques I love.

— 100 ml (3½ fl oz) fish sauce

— 50 g (1¾ oz/¼ cup) chopped palm sugar (jaggery)

— 2 large pig’s cheeks, skinned and trimmed, cut into slices 5 mm (¼ inch) thick

— wood chips, for smoking

— 30 g (1 oz/½ cup) flaked coconut, toasted

— 6 lychees, peeled, stoned and quartered

— 1 finger lime (see Note), podded

— 3 tablespoons picked Thai basil

— thinly shredded kaffir lime (makrut) leaves, to garnish

— snipped coriander (cilantro) cress, to garnish

COCONUT SAUCE (TOM KHA)

— 200 ml (7 fl oz) coconut milk

— 3 thin slices fresh galangal, about 2 cm (¾ inch) round

— 1 whole lemongrass stalk, bruised and chopped

— 1 garlic clove

— 1 red Asian shallot, sliced

— 1 tablespoon palm sugar (jaggery)

— juice of ½ lime

In a saucepan, heat the fish sauce, palm sugar and 300 ml (10 fl oz) water until the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool, then pour into a container large enough to hold the pig’s cheeks. Add the pig’s cheeks to the liquid, then cover and refrigerate for 6 hours.

Heat the wood chips in a smoker or kettle barbecue until they start to smoke. Remove the cheeks from the brine and pat dry. Place on a rack in the smoker or barbecue. Reduce the heat to low, cover and leave to smoke for 2 hours.

Towards the end of smoking time, preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

Place the smoked cheeks on a baking tray, then transfer to the oven and bake for 6–8 hours, until very soft. Remove and cool in the fridge.

FOR THE COCONUT SAUCE

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan with 50 ml (1¾ fl oz) water. Cook over medium heat for 20–30 minutes, until the sauce is just thick and all the flavours have come together. Strain and cool.

TO SERVE

Fry the pig’s cheeks in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat until just lightly crisp and warmed through.

Warm the coconut sauce and place on the bottom of a plate. Top with the pig’s cheeks.

Mix the coconut, lychee and lime in a mixing bowl. Tear in the Thai basil, toss together, then sprinkle over the dish. Serve garnished with the shredded lime leaves and coriander cress.

SERVES 4 AS PART OF A SHARED MEAL

• FINGER LIME IS AN AUSTRALIAN NATIVE FRUIT. THE SIZE OF A THUMB, IT IS FILLED WITH CAVIAR-LIKE SEGMENTS OF INTENSELY FRAGRANT LIME FLAVOUR THAT POP IN YOUR MOUTH.