Green Beans with pork belly: Last Saturday I went out to dinner with my husband, . . .

mistral

Well-known member
a friend of ours, my sister, her son and her significant other (boyfriend of long-standing).

Went to a Sanamluang Cafe in Pomona and my husband ordered green beans with pork belly. Didn't sound too swift: stirfried green beans with deep fried, roasted pork belly. I was thinking FAT, FAT--too greasy.

Then I thought, hmmmm, pork belly is bacon, right? Maybe this will be ok.

And ok it was and it was actually more than ok! Green beans were perfectly done and mixed amongst them were good sized pieces of the most delectable, crispy, tasty, not-too-fatty pork belly.

I dont' know why I posted this but the thread above about lard got me to thinking about this dish. The lard thread and the bacon I bought on mark-down at a local grocery store (Vons), go me thinking on the nature of pork belly.

And talking of bacon, I bought this bacon, marked down to half-price of the original $2.99/lb. I figured even if it was not the best for straight bacon-consumption (dare I say "pigging out?"), I could use it in beans or something. I pick up the bacon to read the lable and read "Bacon Hd smoked." The bacon was firm and thick sliced, not all watery and gooshy,with a very high percentage of lean to fat. Then, the smell; this stuff smelled like every campout I went to when I was a little kid--geeze it smelled like every good woodfire I ever smelled. I notice the edges of the bacon--arrrgh, eureka, they are actually dark, chocolate brown and I make the connection: this stuff is real-smoked, smoked enough to dry the bacon out, smoked with real smoke to make the edgers of it turn brown with smoke.

I cooked some yesterday and it was all I could hope for. I was in pork paradise, belly bohemian rhapsody, 'cuz I was makin' bacon and it was gooooood bacon! My family and I polished off the pound package.

Now I only have the 3/4 pound package and I am thinkin' of making some bad-boy beans and bacon--if I don't fry the stuff first and eat it all myself.

 
Man, I just talked to my sister and it was Chinese Broccoli with pork belly. . .

and it was still GOOD. Everything else I said about the dish still applies!

And the smoked bacon was GREAT.

 
I think pork belly is a hot item! At a recent wine tasting an hors d'oeuvres was crisp cubes of

pork belly on toothpicks with a dab of tarragon mayonnaise. I'd never heard of it until this year, at least not un-cured.

 
The stuff I had was uncured and since it was roasted and then fried. . .

It had substance but was crispy and suprisingly easy to eat. Tasty Stuff.

 
One of guys at work just brought in some of the MOST AWESOME cracklins!!!

Not like what I had as a kid growing up which were pretty hard bits. My grandmother always used them to make cracklin cornbread which was always considered a treat and they always talked about how rich the cracklins were.

These cracklins he brought back from Louisiana were like chunks - not the knarly strips we used to get. You could see just a tiny little streak of meat on some of them. They were fried but not hard. They were denser than a pork rind. And after frying they were tossed with a cayenne pepper spice blend - not too hot but just enough heat. I can't quite figure out the other spices but I have been craving more of them. Next time he goes he has to buy a whole bag just for me. I'll take some pix and try to disect these incredible little hunks of joy.

 
What I had was fairly meaty, probably slow-cooked first until tender, then broiled or fried to crisp

I saw Emeril braise pork belly a few months back so it must be mainstream, lol.

I've never had pork cracklings, but I love duck cracklings (leftover skin bits from rendering the fat.)

 
MCM: If you get to New Orleans

go to Mother's Restaurant on Poydras (just outside the French Quarter at Decatur). They make their own cracklins in house. Late morning between breakfast and lunch they had big pans of the cracklins they'd finished making for the day sitting up on the counter and one of the servers told me to "help myself." They are unbelievable, just like you said. Not hard at all.

I learned to skip breakfast and go to lunch at 10 or so so I could get into Mother's without having to stand on line for an hour or two (which you will do if you go during peak lunch or dinner hours). Amazing place.

http://www.mothersrestaurant.net/

 
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