Main ingredients
Pork recipes
Belly, shoulder, chop and cure.
Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world and the most versatile of the three common ones, because it spans the full range from lean loin to shoulder that will take twelve hours. It is also the meat whose cooking advice has changed most in living memory: the old insistence on cooking it to grey was about trichinella, which is no longer a meaningful risk in commercially farmed pork in most countries, and whole cuts are now safely served at 63°C with a rest — pink, and much better for it. Mince and sausages are the exception and still want to be cooked through. The recipes here give temperatures rather than colours for exactly that reason.
13 recipes
Shoyu Ramen with Chashu Pork
A soy-based broth that tastes long-cooked because it is. The pork rolls the night before, which is most of the work and none of the effort.
Tacos al Pastor
Chilli-and-pineapple marinated pork, grilled hard and served in small tortillas with onion, coriander and more pineapple.
Split Pea and Ham Hock Soup
Yellow split peas simmered with a smoked ham hock until they collapse into the broth, thickening the soup with nothing but themselves.
Pork and Fennel Meatballs
Pork mince bound with a milk and bread panade and toasted fennel seed, browned in a pan and finished in tomato sauce.
Red-Braised Pork Belly
Pork belly caramelised in sugar and braised in soy and wine until the fat turns to jelly and the sauce to lacquer.
Pork Vindaloo
Pork marinated in vinegar, garlic and dried chillies, then cooked slowly until sharp, dark and much more sour than hot.
Mapo Tofu
Silken tofu in a fierce red sauce of fermented bean paste and Sichuan pepper, with just enough pork to season it.
Kimchi Jjigae
The stew that exists because kimchi got too sour to eat straight. Old kimchi is not a compromise here — it is the whole point.
Fabada Asturiana
Big white beans stewed slowly with chorizo, morcilla and pork until the broth turns thick and orange.
Dan Dan Noodles
Noodles over a pool of chilli oil, sesame paste and vinegar, topped with crisp fried pork and preserved vegetable.
Cochinita Pibil
Pork buried in achiote and sour orange, slow-roasted in banana leaf until it falls apart. A Yucatecan dish that asks for one shopping trip and then leaves you alone.
Carnitas
Pork shoulder simmered in its own fat until it falls apart, then crisped in the same pan so half of it shatters.
Albóndigas in Almond Sauce
Pork and beef meatballs simmered in a pale sauce thickened with fried bread and almonds rather than flour.