Roast Pork Belly with Puy Lentils

I think Anthony Bourdain once said pork belly is the poor man’s foie gras, he was right on the money. Pork belly is sandwich of lean meat & pork fat, it so sinful & tasty. I fell in love with roast pork belly in Thailand 4 years ago. When every other sunday, I would go to the food court/market on the ground/basement level of Seri Center in Bangkok and indulge in lots of piping hot roast pork. Going off-topic another great snack I loved was deep fried chicken cartilage, the white bits on the bone between thigh & drumstick, this cartilage is battered & deep fried. Oh yeah a sinful crunchy treat, I am a nose to tail eater, why waste any part of an animal that has given its life for you.

Now about this dish. The pork belly & puy lentils taste are so good together, the sauce was made from roasting juices & pineapple juice added some sweetness to the salty pork. The little carrot dice in the lentils which I added just for colour actually works well, carrot flavour pops in every other spoonful of the lentils. This was a real hearty trencherman’s lunch.

This is how I did it.

Pork Belly

• Pork belly, I took off the skin on because it was too bristly & I had no blowtorch to singe it
• Few sprigs of thyme
• 1 Garlic bulb
• 1 Onion
• Pineapple juice
• Salt
• Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Score the top of pork belly with knife, just cut through fat layer. Then rub on some olive oil & salt
3. Cut garlic bulb & onion into half, lay them on roasting pan allow with the thyme, this forms the bed for resting the pork.
4. Lay the pork on top of the garlic, onion & thyme.
5. Pour pineapple juice to cover bottom of roasting pan.
6. Cover the pork loosely with foil, cover pork not the whole tin.
7. Roast for 90 minutes.
8. Take pork out of oven and roasting pan, let it rest to about room temperature.
9. Deglaze roasting pan with some pineapple juice & little water. Set pan juices in the fridge. Put in the fridge will solidify the fat, which you can then scheme off before making the sauce.
10. Place pork in another roasting pan. Rest another roasting pan on top of the pork, weight the top roasting pan with canned goods or whatever. Place in fridge for about 6 hours. Pressing the pork makes it look presentable.
11. When ready to serve, place pork belly in hot oven for about 8-10 minutes.
12. To make the sauce, pour the reserved pan juices into a saucepan. Reduce it down, then strain through a fine sieve. Season & it’s done. The sauce is really flavourful, its a cornucopia of pork juices, pineapple juice sweetness, thyme, garlic & onion.

Puy Lentils

• Puy lentils
• 1/2 Onion chopped
• 1 clove of garlic sliced
• Butter & olive oil
• Sprig of thyme
• 1/2 carrot finely diced

1. Melt some butter & olive oil in saucepan.
2. Sweat onion & garlic until soft.
3. Add lentils continue sweating for a minute or two.
4. Cover with water, add thyme.
5. Simmer for 35 minutes, add carrot then season with salt. Done!

Assembly

• Spoon lentils to centre of plate.
• Place pork on top of lentils, whole or sliced.
• Pour some of the sauce on top of the pork.
• Drizzle some sauce around place………