Pork Belly Sliders with Pickled Cabbage & Maple Mustard
Don’t you love to find leftovers in the refrigerator and turn them into tasty little bites? That’s what happened a few days after I made the sous-vide pork belly. There was a nice chunk of it I forgot all about hidden between a quart of milk, a head of lettuce, and some brioche dough from a prior failed experiment. My inner Indiana Jones encouraged me to dig deeper in that jungle so I also found some cabbage in urgent need of attention, some Dijon mustard and a little ramequin of maple syrup from breakfast. I don’t know about you but that sounds like lunch to me.
I know that not everyone has a 36 hours sous-vide pork belly in their refrigerator so you should check out this recipe I posted almost two years ago. It’s based on a David Chang technique that consist of curing it overnight and slow-roasting it. It’s delicious and would work great here as well.
I pan-fried the skin of the pork belly until crispy and grilled thick slices of it because it’s more fun that way, but you could simply roast it in the oven until really tender. The only thing that could stop you from eating this is your conscience. Just give it a day off and add pork belly sliders to your hibernation check list. It’s getting cold out there.
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Pork Belly Sliders with Pickled Cabbage
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- Serves 6
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For the pickled cabbage:
- 1 small savoy cabbage
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, toasted
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For the brioche buns:
- 1 envelope dry active yeast (about 2 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1/2 cup whole milk, warm
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
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For the pork belly:
- Recipe for roasted pork belly
- Recipe for sous-vide pork belly
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon (or to taste) maple syrup
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For the pickled cabbage:
- Remove the tender leaves from the cabbage and steam until cooked but still a bit crunchy. Cool in ice water.
- Whisk the maple syrup, the white wine vinegar and the olive oil in a bowl. Add the toasted coriander and mustard seeds. Drain the steamed cabbage and add to the pickling liquid. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or better overnight.
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For the brioche buns:
- In small bowl, whisk yeast into milk, then stir in 1 cup of flour. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Put butter, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with metal blade. Pulse, scraping sides of bowl several times, until mixture is soft and smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, and process after each addition until incorporated. Add remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and yeast/flour mixture, scraping sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pulse to form a soft, smooth dough. Then process continuously for 15 seconds. Turn the dough onto generously floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
- Preheat oven to 350’F.
- Shape little buns on a floured surface and place on a baking tray lined with a silpat. Let the buns rise until doubled in volume (cover the tray loosely with buttered plastic wrap or a slightly wet towel). Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
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For the pork belly + finish:
- Follow desired recipe for pork belly (see links above)
- Combine the Dijon mustard and maple syrup to taste.
- Grill, roast or pan-fry slices of pork belly
- Split the brioche buns in half and toast the cut side.
- Assemble the sliders with the brioche buns, pickled cabbage, pork belly and maple mustard
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