Our mothers were most likely taught to cook pork thoroughly, which often made it quite dry, but now, due to new standards in pig farming, better guidelines on feed and improvements in transport, you really can eat pork slightly pink! Even the US Department of Agriculture has fully embraced this trend. In 2011, it reduced the recommended internal temperature for cooked pork from 74°C/165°F (thoroughly cooked and possibly dry) to 63°C/145°F, when it is slightly rosy and still moist.
When cooking with pork, certain cuts suit some dishes better than others. Broadly speaking, the parts of a pig that do a lot of work, such as the legs and cheeks, are muscular and tougher, so need long slow-cooking. Those that do little, such as the tenderloin fillet and loin, are lean and benefit from quick cooking. To make things easy, my suggestions for using each cut of pork will help you to cook this wonderful meat perfectly.
Cooking with pork loin
The loin of a pig is one of the most versatile cuts of pork and it is also one of the most expensive. As with other animals, the muscles in the loin area do very little work and so the meat tends to be lean, and it also has a more subtle flavour than the shoulder or the legs.
A loin joint is one of the most popular roasting cuts and although the meat is fairly lean, it has a good outer layer of fat and skin, which keeps the meat moist and makes fantastic crispy crackling. Conventional roasting at a higher temperature is ideal for pork loin, although it can be oven cooked more gently, if required (see Pork Loin in a Fennel Salt Crust, page 172). A boneless loin roast is easy to carve and can also be opened out and filled with a stuffing for extra flavour and moisture (see Rolled Loin of Pork with Ricotta & Basil, page 70). Meat roasted on the bone is usually seen as the ultimate way to impart flavour, and a loin rack joint is very manageable for the home cook. If you are concerned about carving, ask your butcher to cut the meat away from the bones, then tie it back on. The meat can be easily lifted away from the bones for carving after roasting.
The fillet, also known as the tenderloin, comes from within the loin area and it is very lean and tender [pictured overleaf, left]. It is a long, thin, cyclindrical cut, around 6–8cm/2½–3½in in diameter with very little fat, though the tenderloin does have a covering of pale white silvery membrane. This is called the silverskin, a type of connective tissue that doesn’t break down when cooked. It can be tough, so it is best removed with a sharp knife before cooking. (See “Show Me How” to Prepare and Cook the Tenderloin, page 68.) The lean fillet is best cooked quickly and left slightly pink in the centre so that it stays moist and juicy. The shape of the fillet makes it ideal for cutting into thin slices or thicker medallions and pan frying (see Pork Medallions with Brandy-soaked Prunes, page 67). The fillet also takes strong flavours well, and is particularly good marinated before cooking (see Korean-style Fiery Pork, page 130). It can be wrapped in bacon and roasted briefly (see Pancetta-wrapped Pork with Mushroom Stuffing, page 110) or pan-fried whole (see Coriander-crusted Pork, page 132).
Loin chops and steaks are great for quick and easy weeknight meals. Chops have both bone and fat to help provide flavour and moisture and can be quickly pan fried, griddled or grilled (see Grilled Garlic & Sage Pork Chops, page 53). Loin steaks don’t have bones and may come with or without fat but are fantastic for beating into thin escalopes for super-quick cooking (see Pork Saltimbocca, page 109), or cut into thin strips or pieces for stir fries (see Sweet & Sour Pork, page 59).
Baby back ribs also come from the loin area of pork. These ribs are always best done in a whole rack, barbecue-style, low and slow (see Sticky Barbecue Ribs, page 168).
Cooking with pork leg
Pork leg from the hindquarters of the pig (usually sold fresh or as ham) is heavily muscled and consequently much leaner than the shoulder and belly. Sadly, this part of the pig has probably contributed most to the belief that pork can be dry, as it needs more careful cooking than some other cuts. Maybe then it is no surprise that legs are most commonly cured as ham.
PORK TENDERLOIN
SMOKED HAM STEAK
Legs can be sold on or off the bone, but due to the size of the joint it is usually available boneless and cut into portions. If it is on the bone, try to choose a piece from the lower, or shank, end of the leg as it is a more manageable size and easier to carve.
Pot-roasting is one of the best ways to cook pork leg (see Pot-roasted Leg of Pork with Sweet Garlic, page 193). This method creates a slightly steamy environment to keep the meat moist during cooking. The leg can also be marinated overnight in oil and herbs for extra flavour. Pork leg comes into its own in slow-cooked curries and stews (see Pork Goulash, page 194), because even after long cooking the meat tends to hold together.
The leg can be conventionally roasted, but its lower fat content means that it is not the best cut for slow roasting. If you want to roast a leg joint and keep it moist, then you could “lard” the meat by threading strips of pork fat through the joint using a special larding needle, which you can buy from kitchen shops or online. Alternatively, if it is a boneless rolled joint then you could stuff it, re-roll and tie with string. Weigh the stuffed joint and calculate the cooking time as 45 minutes per kg/20 minutes per lb, plus an extra 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 225°C/425°F/Gas 7 and roast the leg for 30 minutes to crisp the skin, then reduce the temperature to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 for the remaining time. Like most meat, a roasted leg needs to rest after cooking.
Leg steaks can be quite dry, so they should be marinated and then cooked very quickly and left a little pink. Since the muscle fibres in the leg are quite long, it can be useful to tenderize the meat by beating it with a meat mallet or rolling pin before cooking. The meat can also be cut across the grain into thin strips to use for stir-frying.
Ham can be bought on or off the bone, and again for most home-cooks a boneless ham is a more manageable option. It can be smoked or unsmoked, and since most ham today tends to be mild-cured, it will probably not need soaking before cooking. If you are not sure about its saltiness, then test it by following my tip on Home-cooked Ham in Ginger & Mustard Glaze (see page 210). Uncooked ham is best simmered in water rather than roasted, because this is a more gentle form of cooking. However, you can roast a larger on-the-bone ham if soaked overnight, drained, then wrapped in a foil parcel. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas 3 and cook for 45 minutes per kg/20 minutes per lb, followed by glazing and baking at a higher temperature for a golden, glossy coating.
Cooking with pork shoulder
If you look at a cut from a pork shoulder, you are likely to notice that there is a fair amount of fat marbling through the meat or muscle, which makes it very flavourful and also ideal for slow-cooking, because the meat remains moist while the fat melts away. The structure of the meat also means that it tends to fall apart once it has been cooked.
The shoulder covers quite a large area of the pig and it is commonly sold as the collar, which is the top neck end of the shoulder, or the blade, the upper part of the shoulder. These cuts can be sold boneless or on the bone.
Shoulder joints with their skin on are perfect for slow roasting (see Eight-hour Roast Shoulder of Pork, page 170). Make sure you score the skin first as it will crisp up as the fat renders away, producing delicious crackling. You need a blast of high heat, preferably at the beginning of roasting, for successful crackling. The high heat will also help to colour the outside of the meat and leave caramelized bits (called the fond) on the bottom and sides of the roasting tin, which you can then use to make a flavoursome gravy.
Shoulder cuts are good for barbecuing very slowly over wood chips. Again, the fat content will help to keep the meat moist and also the cooked pork is easy to shred, or pull apart, with two forks, making it ideal for pulled pork.
Shoulder cuts are also sold as pork steaks. The meat from this cut can be on the tough side, so shoulder steaks should be cooked very quickly and left slightly pink. Pan-frying is the best method for this; make sure the pan is very hot before the meat is added and the steaks can be flavoured with a rub of herby or spicy salt before cooking. If the shoulder is cubed and stewed, then it tends to break down into shreds, making it perfect for ragus or meat-based sauces.
The very bottom part of the shoulder, extending down to the leg, is known as the knuckle or hock; this is the “elbow” section before you reach the trotter. The knuckle can be cured to make ham hocks or left uncured, but either way it needs very long, slow cooking until the meat literally falls away from the bone. A ham hock needs to be covered in liquid and then simmered as the curing process can leave the meat a little dry if it is braised or roasted, although like other hams it can be finished in the oven. The best way to cook an uncured knuckle is to braise it in a little liquid to keep it moist, then finish with a period of high heat to crisp the skin on the outside (see Braised Pork Knuckle in Cider, page 206).
Cooking with pork belly
If there was ever a piece of meat that has gone from cheap cut to culinary superstar then it would have to be pork belly. The fatty underside of the pig used to be routinely overlooked by home cooks, but in more recent years its true value has been recognized. When cooked, the layers of skin, flesh and fat give an optimal mix of crisp, crackling shards of skin and flavoursome tender meat. The belly has now been firmly embraced by cooks in the West, but it may come as no surprise to find that the Asians have revered this cut for some time. Not only does pork belly taste great, it’s also pretty versatile: it can be preserved (see Confit of Pork Belly, page 181, and How to Cure Bacon, page 98); braised (see Japanese Pork Belly, page 192) or roasted (see Slow-roasted Pork Belly, page 189).
SIDE OF PIG WITH FRONT QUARTER AND HIND REMOVED
PORK CUTS
Pork belly is made up of a layer of skin, a subcutaneous layer of fat, a layer of muscle, a second layer of fat plus connective tissue and a second layer of muscle. This lamination of fat and meat gives the belly its fantastic flavour and also plenty of moisture, which means that slow-roasting is perhaps the best way of all to cook it. An initial blast of high heat in the oven will start to blister and crisp the scored skin, but after this the oven needs to be turned down to low to allow the fat to melt slowly away. During roasting it needs very little attention. To prevent the pork sitting in a pool of grease while it roasts, it’s best to sit the belly on a trivet made of vegetables, or on a metal rack, so that the rendered fat slides away into the bottom of the tin.
Since the belly retains a lot of moisture during cooking, it is an ideal cut to cook ahead. First braise the belly in an aromatic stock, then leave to cool and put it in the fridge until ready to serve. Before serving, portion the meat and reheat it fairly quickly in a hot pan or oven – this is one restaurant trick that works well in a home kitchen. The gelatine from the meat will enrich the braising liquid and it can be reduced down to make a delicious accompanying sauce or gravy, once the fat has been skimmed away (see Chinese Pork Belly with Seasoned Rice, page 186).
One of the ways I like to cook pork belly in my restaurants is to braise it for 16 hours with carrots and onions until it is so tender that the meat literally falls apart. The pork is then shredded, keeping the paler upper layer and the darker lower layers separate, and pressed in alternate layers with the braised vegetables. Finally, it is cut into squares, breadcrumbed and fried, and served cut into wedges. It is the ultimate pork “sandwich”!
Cooking with the rest of the pig
There is a popular saying about the pig that “you can eat everything but the squeal”. In recent years there has been a revival in the popularity of nose-to-tail eating, and cuts like trotters have started to appear again on restaurant menus and even in some supermarkets.
There are many classic dishes that celebrate the trotter, such as crubeens from Ireland, pied de cochon from France, and the spicy Korean jokbal. Pickled pigs’ trotters are also popular in many cuisines. The one thing that these recipes all have in common, however, is the initial long, slow cooking. One of the wonderful by-products of this technique is that you will end up with a stock rich in gelatine, which is ideal for pies and terrines. The remaining trotter can then be cooked in many ways: stuffed, baked, coated in breadcrumbs, or cooked in a rich sauce and served in slices. As an added benefit, some people believe that eating the collagen in the trotter keeps you looking young!
A pig’s head is also very versatile, but often ends up as a terrine known, rather unglamourously, as brawn or head cheese. The head is usually soaked in brine first, then slowly poached in a spiced stock until the meat can be pulled away from the bones and shredded. Often trotters are added to increase the meat content and for a richer stock. The meat is packed into a terrine or bowl and covered with the strained stock, which forms a jelly when chilled. The brawn is served sliced, usually with toast and a salad.
A pig’s cheek, however, is by far and away the hidden treasure. All animal cheeks do a lot of work and are therefore fairly tough, but when cooked slowly they become amazingly tender and again the collagen in the meat oozes out to deliver an incredibly rich sauce. As a pig’s cheek is fairly small, you will need two per person, but the size is also an advantage as it means it cooks more quickly than some of the larger cuts. If you were going to try any of the more unusual cuts of pork, I would urge you to try this one (see Pork Cheeks with Caramelized Fennel, page 204).
While it is true that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, you can turn this part of the pig into a tasty treat. The ear is mainly fat and cartilage and is really best cooked until crisp (see Crispy Pigs’ Ears, page 165). The crisp morsels can be served as a snack or appetizer, or even as a crunchy garnish to a salad. However, a word of warning: the ear retains a lot of liquid so it tends to spit when it hits the hot fat.
Now to the tail… although perceived as a skinny part of the anatomy, the tail does contain some meat and a good amount of fat. It is particularly popular in the Caribbean and some of the southern states of America. It can be stewed, but is most popular braised until tender, then roasted or barbecued until crisp.
PRESERVED PORK
Most popular methods of pork preservation have been around for thousands of years. Pigs were traditionally slaughtered in the late autumn, partly because it was expensive and impractical to feed animals during the winter and partly because they would have been fattened during the warmer months on windfalls, nuts and seeds. Charcuterie, which comes from the French words chair, meaning “flesh”, and cuite, meaning “cooked”, was developed to improve the keeping qualities of meat during the cooler winter months.
Pretty much all pork preservation starts with curing: treating the meat with salt, either mixed with water to make a brine, or by applying a dry salt mixture to the surface of the meat. The salt draws out moisture from the meat, which is vital for preservation because bacteria needs moisture to grow. Salt also slows down the fermentation process that breaks down the meat fibres, keeping the meat firm. Alongside salt, saltpetre and, more recently, sodium nitrate, or nitrite, is added to help stop the meat going off and to prevent bacteria formation.
Bacon and ham are probably the most popular types of preserved pork. They are made in a similar manner with ham being cured for longer than bacon (see How to Cure Bacon, page 98). In many countries, ham is air-dried after curing and matured to further preserve it and enhance its flavour, such as prosciutto di Parma, Iberico and jamon Serrano. Prosciutto takes between 9 months and 2 years before it is ready to be eaten. Ham and bacon can also be smoked for additional flavour, although smoking in itself does not preserve pork. Ham and bacon are usually hung in a smokehouse and cold smoked for up to 2 days. Pork can also be almost completely dried to make jerky, which is popular in South Africa.
Salame, or saucisson sec, is a sausage that is cured and air dried to preserve it. Usually a mixture of pork shoulder and fat is finely chopped or minced and mixed with a curing salt mixture before being stuffed into a sausage casing. Salame differs from ham in that it is fermented first, often by adding acidophilus, a type of “friendly” bacteria. It is perfectly safe and often seen as the dry white bloom on the outside of an artisanal salame. The salame is then air-dried for several weeks and often a white mould is applied to the casing to reduce exposure to air and improve its keeping qualities. It is possible to make salame at home, although it is advisable to test its pH balance after the initial fermentation to make sure it is safe to eat. You will also need to have a cool place with good air circulation for drying the sausages.
Preserving in fat is also a popular way to keep pork (see Goose Fat Potted Pork, page 76). French rillettes, for example, is one of the earliest types of pâté and is made by slowly cooking pork in pork fat until very tender. The pork is then shredded, packed into sterilized jars and covered with the fat. Confit pork is in a similar vein, although cooked in goose or duck fat, rather than pork fat, and usually left in larger pieces (see Confit of Pork Belly, page 181).
CHOOSING PORK
Good meat comes from good farming. A happy pig is more likely to give soft, succulent flesh than one that has been raised in a stressful environment. The flavour of the meat can also be influenced by the pig’s diet, with a varied and natural diet more likely to give tastier meat than a bland, monotonous one. While rearing standards have improved enormously over the years, in some places they are still not perfect, so it is very important to try and buy from shops who know the source or provenance of their meat. A local butcher is usually a great place to buy, but this is often not practical for many people. However, there are some supermarket chains that only buy from reliable sources and can trace the origins of their pork, and it is worth supporting those who assure high welfare standards. Packaging can be misleading, but look for supermarkets or butchers that offer outdoor-reared pork. It’s better to buy a smaller amount of good-quality pork than a huge cut of inferior meat – your taste buds will thank you for this.
When buying fresh pork it should be dry, not sitting in a pool of liquid. Read the label to make sure that the meat has no added water. Also, although this is rare, it is worth checking the packaging to make sure that there are no unwanted additives. The flesh should look plump and firm, not limp and flabby, and there should be no signs of discolouration or a “rainbow” sheen, which means that the pork is past its best. When you touch the pork, it shouldn’t feel sticky, as this means bacteria has started to form on the outer skin, neither should it feel slimy. There should be no odour from pork, which also applies to all fresh meat.
If you are buying cured meat, then again the quality will affect the price you pay. If you are splashing out on a premium air-dried ham, make sure that it is from a reputable supplier and it has the DOC, or other appropriate origin stamps. Buying dry-cured bacon is really worth the extra money for its superior flavour and great texture.
STORING PORK
When you get fresh pork home, store it on the bottom shelf of the fridge. If the meat is wrapped in plastic then remove the wrapping, transfer the meat to a dish and cover loosely with foil or cling film. This will help airflow around the meat and prevent it from sweating; it should then be good for about 2 days. If you want to freeze the pork, wrap tightly in cling film and put the meat in a resealable bag, expelling as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 3 months and always defrost pork thoroughly in the fridge before cooking.
Cured meats should be well wrapped as they can dehydrate quickly in the dry air of the fridge. Most hams and salami will come with an expiry date and again they can be frozen for up to 3 months, if required. If freezing bacon, you may like to wrap the rashers in single-portion quantities, ready to be defrosted quickly and easily whenever required.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Pork is often seen as the best example of nose-to-tail-eating and it’s easy to see why in this book. The sheer versatility of pork compared to other meats has to be admired, especially in the way it adapts to both different styles of cooking and also to different flavours. My signature dish (see Slow-roasted Pork Belly, page 189) at my London restaurant, The English Pig, is constantly evolving with new modern versions of a great traditional dish. I have also been known to create a ten-course “pigfest” - a true celebration of the pig!
I hope I give you a taste of this celebration in my book, because within these pages you’ll find a wide selection of recipes to suit all types of meal and eating occasion. I’ve included family favourites and everyday suppers, slow-cooked meals and a few show- stopping dinner-party centrepieces. There are also recipes that make the most of bacon, ham and other cured meats, as well as sizzling spicy dishes from around the world.
On a more practical note, I’ve given you lots of tips on the best ways to cook specific cuts, and there’s also informative advice in the “How To...” features within each chapter that will take you through a selection of simple techniques, such as braising, making sausages, home smoking, curing your own bacon and not forgetting roasting the best pork loin with perfect crisp crackling! You’ll notice that some pages also have a QR code that will link you to a video clip showing a useful technique, helping you to pick up a few restaurant tricks of the trade along the way.
My experience of cooking in restaurants around the world, as well as the many adventures at my own restaurants, have shown me how much can be done with this fabulous creature and now I want to share these recipes with you, too.
