Shark Week has nothing on this. I’ve got about 20lbs of pork sitting here that I need to deal with, so it’s PORK WEEK here at Culinary Tips. I’m not normally the biggest fan of pork. It is a cheap meat, and can handle tons of abuse before becoming completely inedible, which leads most people to show it little respect, flavour it terribly, and cook it poorly.
So now I’ve decided to take some pork and put some love into it, and what better way to start than with a whole pork belly (side).
Whole Pork Belly
Pork Belly Skin Side
A pork belly will yield the following:
- A full rack of ribs, which I ate for lunch as written in this post.
- A large piece of skin, which after being burnt or shaved, can be made into cracklings, scratchings, pork rinds or chicharrons – whatever you’d like to call them.
- A whole ton of belly meat to make bacon or pancetta.
- And some trim, which can be made into sausages. Yes, you can make sausages at home. Update: June 4 2010: I was going to post a writeup on making your own sausages, but there’s really not a lot to tell – and the camera battery was dead when I was trying to take photos. The technique I use comes from Michael Richard’s Happy in the Kitchen.
This week on Culinary Tips, I’ll post a tutorial on curing pancetta, and making pork rinds. Also, since we’re curing everything in sight, I’ll also be posting a writeup on making duck prosciutto.
If you need meat in Richmond BC, I recommend you visit Pacific Exotic Meats at 8211 Westminster Hwy. From chicken to alligator, this place will hook you up. Call ahead, (604) 273-4846, to get a price quote and make sure they’ve got what you need.
