It's Dec. 10, 2015 Dinner is on the table!

[Steve Kroll]

Pirate keeps asking me to buy some pork belly. Can someone tell me what it is and what do you do with it? I see it in the meat department, but it looks like a hunk of just fat to me. Only recently have I become aware of it even existing. I need an education.

Sorry, but did Google break?

It's basically uncured, un-smoked, unsliced bacon, complete with the skin. Think of it as a bacon blank slate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_belly

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Pirate keeps asking me to buy some pork belly. Can someone tell me what it is and what do you do with it? I see it in the meat department, but it looks like a hunk of just fat to me. Only recently have I become aware of it even existing. I need an education.

Oh my gravy, Addie, Crispy Pork Belly is WAAAAYYYY better than BACON.
Take a look at this:
Crispy Pork Belly Recipe (Siu Yuk) – China Sichuan Food
In Hawaii, Siu Yuk, that's like gold.
Oh my, my mouth is watering. A bowl of hot rice, some siu yuk, some soy sauce, some greens ... MMM!
I personally have not made this yet, because I have yet to find a nice piece of pork belly. What I mean is a good ration of fat to meat.
But I'm still searching, I'll find it, maybe once we move

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Himself had a late afternoon doctor's appointment (A+ report! ), so we made a couple of stops to pick a few things up from that side of the county, then drove around for a bit looking at all the pretty decorated houses. Ran into the grocery store to pick up a frozen Pizzaria Uno deep dish, then doctored up that cheese one with mushrooms and fresh tomato, a bit of extra cheese on top. Quick, easy, nutritionally questionable. Honest, Doc, we'll be better tomorrow.

 

[CraigC]

GG, Dawg and Kay, I bought 3 lbs of medium claws, that usually yields about 1-1/2# meat once the shell weight is deducted. Normally we have left overs, but not this time. They were so good! The place I buy them from will ship. Just a tip if you do get some, stick with the mediums as they have the best ratio of meat to shell weight and cost the least per pound.

 

[medtran49]

Oh my gravy, Addie, Crispy Pork Belly is WAAAAYYYY better than BACON.
Take a look at this:
Crispy Pork Belly Recipe (Siu Yuk) – China Sichuan Food
In Hawaii, Siu Yuk, that's like gold.
Oh my, my mouth is watering. A bowl of hot rice, some siu yuk, some soy sauce, some greens ... MMM!
I personally have not made this yet, because I have yet to find a nice piece of pork belly. What I mean is a good ration of fat to meat.
But I'm still searching, I'll find it, maybe once we move

The honey roasted recipe looks good too that's linked on that page, but I'm not too sure about cooking less than 1 hour at 200, just doesn't seem like enough time since each piece would be about 1/2 pound. Perfectly cooked, even slightly over-cooked pork belly is great, but underdone, not so much. We've still got a small piece somewhere in the freezer that would be good for that recipe, although I think Craig was hoping for a small porchetta. We usually cook it this way as it's our favorite Momofuku's Pork Buns Recipe on Food52 but sometimes try something new.

We have to get pork belly from a place that started out as mainly a very large butcher, seafood purveyor, green grocer, that has slowly morphed into a full fledged grocery store, but are still much heavier on their core business than the rest. Even at this place, they don't always have big slabs of pork belly but they always have strips of it. Of course, the restaurant supply place has it but you have to buy a 30-35 pound case, which is a LOT of pork belly.

Cheney Brothers has it in smaller packages. Our SIL now works for them and he says that some days they are open to the public. I don't know for a fact if that's true (sometimes he doesn't get things quite right) or if it's true for all locations but, if there is one near, a phone call to ask can't hurt.

BTW, is wasn't S&P that had the stone crabs.

 

[Addie]

Sorry, but did Google break?

It's basically uncured, un-smoked, unsliced bacon, complete with the skin. Think of it as a bacon blank slate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_belly

Well to me it looks like a piece of salt pork minus the salt. I see that all the time in the supermarket. Will get some for his highness.

 

[GotGarlic]

It is.

 

[cristina.b]

Today: pasta alla carbonara and zucchine ripiene.