Braised Pork Belly with Pickled Ramps and Pork Caramel
Marc of No recipes was kind enough to share this picture with me. It’s one of the five dishes we made at Forage & Feast and one that received rave reviews from everyone. If you read Zested, Constables larder, No recipes or Lab 24/7you probably know all there is to know about this great foraging-cooking expedition we went on last week-end. If you don’t, i suggest you visit the blogs aforementioned for a detailed view and the complete menu of this fantastic cooking event organized by Marc of No Recipes and Jonathan of Lab 24/7. In short, the goal was to drive up to a park in Yonkers to pick ramps, fiddlehead ferns and stinging nettles in the wilderness and bring the fruit vegetable of our labor back to The Lab in Brooklyn to cook a 5 courses feast. I also wanted to kill a bear but i couldn’t find any. What a disappointment.
We came back to The Lab with our spring bounty and we improvised, we made mistakes, we took risks, we drank, we drank again… Ahh! those ramptinis. After a few of those you should have seen this bunch of cooking maniacs chopping, cleaning and chatting to the sound of reggae! Claire of Colloquial Cookin’, who is the embodiment of French glamour, was there to ensure no line of glamourism were crossed. She’s so efficient that by the end of the day everyone was completely fluent in French. Amazing! And she can cook too! Not your average Easter Sunday but definitely a great day for everyone.
Let’s zoom on this Braised Pork Belly with pickled ramps and pork caramel. I think it deserves a post of it’s own cuz it’s good… it’s real good. It started 48 hours before the show with a spice-cure to perfume (and cure) all this porky goodness. Then it was washed and slowly simmered in an aromatic broth for about 3 hours to a perfect pork-fork-tenderness and paired with sauteed ramps, sauteed morels, pickled ramps (that packed a punch) and brought full circle with what i like to call a pork caramel; a caramel deglazed and reduced with the pickling juice from the ramps and the pork cooking liquid.
Liz of Zested shared the pictures of the pickled ramps with me. Why didn’t i take my own pictures? Why did i have to beg to everyone? Well.. err.. their cameras were bigger than mine. I don’t want to be the one pointed at for having a small camera! It’s traumatizing!!
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Braised Pork Belly with Pickled Ramps and Pork Caramel
- Pickled ramp recipe adapted from Tom Colicchio’s”
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- Serves 6
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For the spice-cured pork belly:
- 3 whole star anise
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 teaspoons black peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1/2 cup coarse sea salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3 pounds boneless pork belly
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For the aromatic broth:
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, parsley stems)
For the pickled ramps:
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- 3 bunches of ramps, white parts only
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon juniper berries
- 1 tablespoon coriander seed
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
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Pork caramel:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup ramp pickling juice (see above)
- 1/2 cup pork cooking liquid (see above)
- sea salt to taste
- fresh chervil for garnish
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Garnish and finishing:
- 3 bunches ramps, cleaned
- a dozen fresh morels, cleaned
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 1 small shallot, chopped
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and black pepper
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For the spice-cured pork belly:
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- Put the star anise, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, coriander, fennel seeds, and cloves in a skillet and toast until fragrant. Crush the spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Stir the spices with the salt, sugar, and garlic.
- Score the skin of the pork belly with a sharp knife. Rub the spice mixture on both sides. Put in a baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 48 hours.
For the pickled ramps:
- While the pork belly is curing, clean ramps and separate white from green, reserve greens for another use.
- Prepare brine, bringing vinegar, water, sugar, honey and salt to a boil for 1 minute. Add dried spices and bay leaves and boil for 1 minute.
- Blanch ramp bottoms in heavily salted water for 1-2 minutes. Drain and cool quickly using ice and running cold water.
- Pour brine over ramps and let sit for 3 days in the refrigerator.
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For the aromatic broth:
- When the pork belly is cured you are ready to proceed.
- Scrap off the spice mixture from the pork belly and run it under cold water until clean.
- Put the belly in a deep stockpot along with the celery, the carrot, the onion and the bouquet garni. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 3 hours, skimming off the fat that rises to the surface. The belly is done when fork-tender. Keep in cooking liquid until ready to use or refrigerate.
Pork caramel:
- Put sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Make a caramel.
- When the color turns deep mahogamy deglaze with pickling juice and pork stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a sauce consistency. Season with a pinch of sea salt. Keep warm.
Garnish and finishing:
- Sautee the ramps in olive oil until the green leaves start to brown. Season with salt and pepper.
- Sautee morels in olive oil, season with salt and butter. Finish with a touch of butter, chopped garlic and shallots.
- Serve the pork belly warm, cut in nice big cubes on a bed of sauteed ramps and morels. Garnish with pickled ramps and chervil. Drizzle with pork caramel and a grind or two of black pepper. Enjoy!
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