Roast Crispy Pork Recipes

REALLY SLOW ROAST PORK SHOULDER WITH CRISPY, CRISPY CRACKLING AND GARLIC ROAST POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Grind the fennel seeds, peppercorns and salt in a spice grinder. Place the pork shoulder into a roasting pan and cut the rind into cross hatches. Rub the spice mixture into the meat and put it in the oven for 4 hours.
• Arrange the potatoes around and under the meat and put it back into the oven for 1 hour.
• Now add the garlic, shallots and carrots around the pork. If your roasting pan is not large enough to accommodate all the vegetables, place them in a separate roasting pan. Cook for 30 minutes, then add the pears. They don't need much cooking time and will disintegrate if cooked too long. Cook for another 30 minutes
• When the meat is tender and flakes with a fork, remove it and the vegetables and keep warm. This will give the pork time to rest and become more tender. If the pork rind is not crispy, put it under the broiler for a few minutes until it is really crunchy and crispy.
• To make the gravy, pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the roasting pan. Stir the flour into the roasting pan, add the wine, put the roasting pan onto a burner over medium-high heat and cook until the wine is reduced by half. If not using the wine, do this with the stock. Now add the stock and scrape off any bits of meat and vegetable on the bottom of the pan. Taste and add any seasoning if you think it needs it.
• If the gravy is too thin, make a paste in a bowl with 1 tablespoon and 1 tablespoon flour. Add some of the hot gravy to the small bowl and stir. Add this to the hot stock, stirring constantly and bring to a boil. The gravy will thicken slightly.
• If your gravy is too thick, just add a touch more stock. Serve the meat and vegetables with the gravy.
• This dish struggles to make it to the table as the family descends upon it while I am trying to finish the gravy! Use any leftovers for pork sandwiches with some crunchy pickle.

ROAST CRISPY PORK

Steps:

• Pierce the rind side of the pork (a roasting fork is good for this) until the skin is covered with fine holes. Put the joint rind side up on a rack over the sink. Bring a pot of water to the boil and, using a large ladle, pour hot water over the rind side of the pork several times. Set the pork aside.
• Heat a wok or large frying pan until it is very hot. Add the salt, peppercorns and five-spice and stir-fry for about 30 seconds until hot and well mixed. Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar, then allow to cool slightly. When it is warm enough to handle, rub this mixture on the flesh side of the pork. Leave, flesh side up, on the rack at room temperature for a minimum of 3 hours (overnight is ideal).
• To roast Sichuan peppercorns: heat a wok or heavy frying pan to a medium heat. Add the peppercorns (you can cook about 140g/5oz at a time) and stir-fry them for about 5 minutes until they brown slightly and start to smoke. Remove from the heat and let them cool. Grind the peppercorns in a pepper mill or using a mortar and pestle. Seal tightly in a screw-top jar until required. Alternatively, keep the whole roasted peppercorns in a well-sealed container and grind them when required.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/ fan 180C. Turn the pork rind side up on the rack and put the rack over a roasting tin with 2-3cm hot water in the bottom. Roast for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C/gas 4/fan 160C and continue to roast for 2 hours, checking every now and then that your tin is not dry - splash in some hot water from the kettle if it is. Increase the heat to 230C/gas 8/fan 210C for the last 15 minutes. Remove the pork from the oven and leave it to rest (about 20 minutes). Serve carved into large cubes.