Try Colleen O'Hara from Cloughjordan House's recipe for gorgeous spiced pork belly, glazed with sweet damson jam.
Ingredients
- 2 kg pork belly
- sea salt
- cracked black pepper
- 1 tblsp coriander seed
- 1 tblsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 large onion sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sage leaves
- glaze:
- 220 g damson jam
- 4 tblsp soy sauce
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger finely grated
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170C.
- Place the sliced onion, bay leaf and sage leaves on a roasting tray. Toast the seeds on a dry pan until they start to pop, agitating the pan to stop them burning, then grind the seeds and rub the spices along with a little salt and pepper all over the pork, then place the belly in the roasting tray atop the onion and herbs fat side facing up.
- Place the pork in the oven and roast for 1 hour, before adding a cup and a half of boiling water to the tray and return to the oven for a further hour and a half to 2 hours, until the meat is really tender.
- Remove the pork from the oven and raise the heat to 220C. Drain off all the liquid from the pan but retain for the sauce.
- Return the pork to the oven, and allow the fat to start to crisp up - 10-15 minutes - before spooning half of the glaze over the fat and browning for another 10-15 minutes. Then spoon over the remaining glaze and bake for a further 5-10 minutes.
- Now remove pork from the oven and place on a warm plate to rest while you deglaze the pan with the retained cooking liquid. Use a wooden spoon to lift the glaze, and place over a medium heat if necessary. Strain through a fine sieve and serve over the sliced pork belly.
- View the Damson Jam Recipe here: http://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/food/recipes/2014/1004/4450-damson-jam/
