Roulade of pork belly, braised red cabbage and apple compote

  • medium
  • 8
  • 4 hours 30 minutes
Not yet rated

This pork belly recipe by Mark Dodson marries the classic flavours of apple and pork together in a remarkable roulade. The sauce for the braised pork is made in part from the braising liquid, further enhancing the richness of the pork in this dish.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Braised pork belly

Pork sauce

Red cabbage

  • 1 red cabbage, finely shredded
  • 100g of dark brown sugar
  • 150ml of red wine vinegar

Apple compote

Confit shallots

Pomme cocotte

Method

1
If possible, buy the pork belly pre-skinned and rolled. If not you will have to remove the skin, roll and tie with butchers twine. Large dice the carrot, celery and onion and add to a large pot with the bay and spices
2
Place the pork belly on top of the vegetables and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 4 hours. Remove from the heat and allow the pork to cool in the liquid. Once cooled, strain and reserve the braising liquid. Leave the pork belly to set overnight in the fridge
3
For the sauce, skim off as much fat as possible from the braising liquid. Combine one litre of the liquid with the veal stock, return to the heat and reduce to 400ml. Season with salt to taste and add the honey to finish
4
While the sauce is reducing, start on the cabbage by combining the sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and add the cabbage. Cook for about one hour until the cabbage is tender (if there is a lot of residual liquid, strain and reduce down to a thin syrup and add back to the cabbage)
  • 100g of dark brown sugar
  • 150ml of red wine vinegar
  • 1 red cabbage, finely shredded
5
For the confit shallots, peel and leave the shallots whole. Place the goose fat in a medium saucepan and melt on a low heat. Once the fat has completely melted, add the shallots and thyme and cook for 45 minutes. Leave in the fat to cool
6
While the confit shallots are cooking, start the pomme cocotte by turning or cutting the potatoes into short round oval cylinders. Melt the clarified and unsalted butter in a cocotte or heavy based saucepan. Leave on a medium to high heat to achieve a buerre noisette
7
Reduce the heat to medium, add the potatoes and garlic and cook for a further 20 minutes until the contents are golden brown. Be careful not to burn the butter mix while cooking. Remove from the pan and season with salt
8
For the apple compote, add the diced apple to a pan with the sugar and 120ml of water. Cover with a cartouche and cook on a low heat until tender to resemble a chunky apple sauce
9
To finish, slice the pork into eight even pieces. Heat a little vegetable oil in the pan and sear the pork belly until golden and crispy. Add the shallots and pommes cocotte to the pan with a little of the pork sauce to heat through
10
Place the hot cabbage in the centre of the plate, followed by the pork belly and the vegetables. Drizzle the pork in sauce and finish with a quenelle of the apple compote

Mark Dodson speaks the language of comfort food with Shakespearean fluency, turning perfectly formed elements into down-to-earth (but heavenly) compositions.

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