Pork belly?

[Piccolina]

Hi guys,

I have a question...am I correct in thinking that pork belly is the word given to the cut of meat that will become bacon? In its "natural" state is a pork belly just bacon that has not been preserved, etc?

Thanks for your thoughts

 

[licia]

I think bacon comes from the side instead of the belly. My grqndmother used to call it "side meat" sometimes. I don't know what the belly is used for.

 

[Andy M.]

Pork belly is the cut of meat that becomes bacon. It's not part of the pig's stomach.

It is located below the ribs and is, in fact, found on the animal's sides, so it may also be referred to as side meat.

 

[htc]

ICadvisor, you're right, it's the same part of the pig as bacon, just not smoked. Are you going to cook something with it???

I love that stuff! We use pork belly various ways in Vietnamese cooking. How will you prepare yours?

 

[Piccolina]

Are you going to cook something with it???

I'm thinking I might, the local butcher would surely have some. I'm quite sensative to food addictives like nitrates, but I was thinking how lovely it would be to make a little pea and "bacon" soup as our weather here has been miserably rainy all week. I gather it won't quite have the same "smoked" flavour but I'm sure it'll be more appropriate for that kind of soup than a pork chop (lol)

Thanks for the clarification guys, much appreciated!

 

[Andy M.]

Bacon is salt cured and smoked.

Pork belly is just a fatty piece of pork.

If you use pork belly to make soup, you will get fatty, pork-flavored soup. Unfortunatey, you won't get any bacon flavor out of the meat.

If you trim off most of the fat and use the lean, you will add flavor to the soup. Otherwise, you could make pancetta - salt-cured unsmoked bacon.

I did a quick google search and there are recipes using pork belly if you want to give them a try.

 

[htc]

Do you have an Asian market close by? If you do, or have on hand thick soy sauce, & fish sauce, you can make a Vietnamese dish and eat it with rice. *Yummy*


Hard boil some eggs, however many you want in your dish. Take your belly,cut it in chunks, make sure to leave the skin on. Mix the thick soy sauce w/ the meat & fish sauce & a dash of sugar. I'd use a tablespoon of fish sauce to start. Put it in a pot (preferably clay pot) and turn on high once it comes to a boil,then add your peeled hard boiled egges and mix it up, then turn it to med. and let it simmer until the meat gets soft. Once it's done cooking, but a bunch of black pepper on top. Then eat with rice.

 

[htc]

If you can't find thick soy sauce, here is what you can do to make a thick carmel sauce at home. I pulled this from Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table by Mai Pham. I've never tried this, but know the method is correct. I've done this exact same thing, just never measure the amount.


1/2 c. sugar & 1/3 c. boiling water
Place sugar in small heavy bottomed pan over med. heat. Sugar will melt and start to carmelize in about 2-3 min. Stir a few times (edge will brown fast) and let mixture bubble until it turns dark brown (about another min). Remove from heat and slowly stir in water.

Careful, this is hot, so don't let it splash on you.

 

[Piccolina]

If you use pork belly to make soup, you will get fatty, pork-flavored soup. Unfortunatey, you won't get any bacon flavor out of the meat.

Thanks for the heads up, Andy, I had thought that might be the case...perhaps my best bet would be an unsmoked "fresh" ham.

htc, unintentionally you made me laugh, no, sadly I live in a tiny little (itty-bitty) town on the southern coast of Ireland, there are no Asian stores to be found around here, though Cork would certainly have them. The lack of ingredients in this neck of the woods (without meaning any disrespect to Ireland or the Irish people) and Ireland in general is a never ending source of fustration for me...but at the same time it does lead to somewhat creative new spins on old recipes.

Thanks so much for the thick sugar sauce recipe, I think I would make that regardless of if I had the other ingredients on hand, as it sounds like a nice change of pace!

I appreciate all your thoughts guys!

 

[htc]

IC, I always assume everyone has Asian staples...I know, silly of me. If you can't get fish sauce, just use salt. Won't be as authentic, but you'll get the idea of what it tastes like.

 

[Piccolina]

IC, I always assume everyone has Asian staples...I know, silly of me.

Not silly at all, perfectly natural!
No worries htc...thanks for your thoughts and alternative recipe ingredients

 

[Piccolina]

Fresh ham...that would be free of preservatives, no? Over the years I've eaten and cooked kinds that said you had to cook them first and others that said they were fine to be eaten as is (those would be the smoked, I presume...lol..my mom has always cooked every type, to be on the safe side as she says).

As you may have guessed I'm looking to avoid any undo preservatives/chemicals/smoking processes. For this reason I've not eaten ham for ages, but like to see how I'd fare with fresh ham

 

[AllenOK]

You might also want to look for "raw" ham as well as "fresh" ham.

 

[Piccolina]

Thanks for the suggestion Allen, the same (or virtually the same) thing often has different names...

p.s.
If I've never mentioned it before, I luv your avatar

 

[Constance]

If you want uncured bacon, ask for fresh side meat. My MIL used to flour it and fry in a skillet.
Fresh ham is like a big pork roast. It won't taste like ham at all, but it will be delicious. My husband smokes them sometimes, but they are also excellent roasted in the oven.