Inspired by the Royal Oak’s winter warmer dish …
Use a good dry cider for this recipe. A brambly apple stewed in a splash of water cooks down to a perfect tart puree to add body and flavour to the sauce. Serves 2.
- 450g pork belly slices
- 1 Tsp coarse sea salt
- ½ Tsp black pepper
- 1 Tsp fennel seeds
- 500ml dry cider
- 2 Sprigs fresh thyme
- 175ml chicken stock
- 3 Tbsp cooked apple
- 1 Tbsp grain mustard
- Salt if required
- 1 Tbsp creme fraiche
Dry the pork well on kitchen paper and try to leave it out of the packaging in the fridge overnight to dry out the skin.
Add the coarse sea salt, fennel seeds and black pepper to a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and crush to a fairly fine mix.
Place the pork on a roasting tray and season on both sides with the salt and pepper mix, be sure to try and rub the mix all over the pork.
Cook at 200°C for 30-40 minutes and then flip the oven over to fan mode for a final 5-7 minutes to crisp them up.
Whilst the pork is cooking pour the cider into a small saucepan and add the thyme, boil it over a very high heat until it has reduced by around a half to two-thirds.
Pour in the chicken stock and bring the sauce back to a boil.
Stir in the Bramley apple sauce and mustard, then stir to combine, reduce the heat to medium-low and then simmer until the pork is ready to be served. Now is a good time to have a taste and add salt as required.
Just before you serve add creme fraiche to the pan and stir it into the sauce, heat gently to warm. Serve a couple of slices of pork belly for each with mashed potato, greens and a generous puddle of sauce.