Smoked pork belly with lovage crumb and green peas

We’re going to make a beautiful slow cooked smoked pork belly. We’re then serving it with a lovage crumb, a green pea & lovage cream, a green pea salad, a confit potato and some delicious green asparagus.

The pork belly

2 kilograms	pork belly without skin
3 grams	fennel seed
3 pieces	star anise
5	cloves
1/2	cinnamon stick
10	coriander seeds
50 grams	palm sugar
25 grams	nitrite salt
	apple smoke wood
	Apple juice

First mix the fennel seed with the star anise, the cloves, the cinnamon stick and the coriander seeds. Blend this till smooth. Then transfer the palm sugar into a bowl and also add the nitrite salt and the blended spice powder. Mix this. Now sprinkle half of the powder on the pork belly and rub it in. Then turn it around and do the same as you did with the top. Make sure you also rub some on the side. Now let it brine skin side up for two days in your fridge. After the two days you can turn on your barbeque till it’s a consistent 90 degrees Celsius. I barbeque inside, but I have a special ventilation system. So you guys probably need to do it outside. Once it’s hot sprinkle some apple smoke wood on top and directly place the convector on there. This will protect the pork belly from direct heat. Now place a plate or metal plateau on there and fill it with a layer of apple juice. This will prevent the dripping fat from burning and will also help with keeping the pork moist. Then place the pork belly skin side up on the barbeque and let it cook at 90 degrees Celsius for around 4 hours till it has a core temperature of 78 degrees Celsius. After two hours insert a core thermomotor to insure it won’t overcook. You’ll end up with a beautiful moist and perfectly cooked pork belly. Once it’s cooked wrap it in aluminum foil or butcher paper and let it cool down completely. Then keep it in your fridge for later.

The green pea and wild garlic cream

250 grams	shallots
4 grams	salt
250 grams	defrosted frozen green peas
200 grams	vegetable broth
20 grams	sushi vinegar
40 grams	wild garlic leaves
	Xanthan gum

First clean the shallots and chop it. Then drizzle some oil in a hot pan and glaze the shallots on a low heat with the salt. Once softened add the defrosted frozen green peas with the vegetable broth and the sushi vinegar. Now boil this till half of the liquid is reduced. After that transfer it into a blender and add the wild garlic leaves. Then blend it till smooth. Once it’s smooth add a touch of xanthan gum to prevent the cream from splitting. Now blend it for another minute.

The green pea tapenade

	Green peas
	Chives
	The green pea and wild garlic cream
	black pepper

First clean some beautiful green peas. Then season some boiling water with salt and blanch the green peas for a minute. Once blanched directly cool them down in ice water. Then peel them once more to remove the thin second skin. You can leave it on, but this will bring it to the next level. Now finely chop some chives and add them to the cleaned green peas. Then also add some of the green pea cream and some black pepper. Now mix it and then season it with some salt.

The confit potato

	Waxy potato
	Neutral oil (I use sunflower oil)
	Sage
	Cloves of garlic

First peel some waxy potatoes and cut them in thick slices. Keep the trimmings to make some other delicious recipes. Then cut the slices with a round cutter. Now was them under running water to remove any access starch. Now place them between some kitchen paper to dry them and then season them with salt. Now transfer them into a pan and cover the rounds completely with neutral oil. Add a couple leaves of sage and some cleaned cloves of garlic. Then bring this to a simmer. Once it’s simmering let them cook at 95 degrees Celsius for around 50 minutes. You can check if it’s cooked if a knife can cut the potato with no resistance. Then take them out of the oil and keep them in your fridge for later.

The lovage crumble

20 grams	lovage leaves
5 grams	fennel seeds
20 grams	grated parmesan cheese
30 grams	bread panko

Mix the lovage leaves with the fennel seeds and the grated parmesan cheese. Now blend this till smooth. Then add the bread panko and blend it into a fine powder. Keep it in your fridge for later.

The green asparagus

Trim the bottom and make a thin incision around the top. Then peel the bottom from the incision down. Now cut them in half and blanch them for 2 minutes in salted water. Then cool them in ice water and keep them in your fridge for later.

How to finish the dish

First portion the pork belly in the desired size and heat it up at 120 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Now place the confit potato and green asparagus on a tray and heat them up after the pork belly has been in the oven for 8 minutes. Then take the green pea tapenade and heat it up on a low heat. The cream I heat up in my heat dry, but you can also heat it up in a small saucepan like the tapenade. Now pipe a thin layer of the cream on the pork belly and spread it. Then press it down in the lovage crumble and heat it up for another 4 minutes. After that portion it into thin slices. Then place a quenelle of the tapenade on a plate and also add the confit potato, some of the cream and the green asparagus. Now pipe some small dots on top and use them to stick some wild garlic flowers. Then place some pork belly slices next to it and it’s ready to be served!