Cured pork belly cooked sous-vide

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 500 g boneless pork belly
• 30 g curing salt (nitrite curing salt)
• 15 g brown sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 10 juniper berries
• 10 peppercorns
• 3 cloves
• 2 tbsp mustard, medium hot
• Black pepper, coarsely ground

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 day; Total time approx. 1 day 12 hours 20 minutes

cooked in a vacuum

In a saucepan, bring 300 ml of water to a boil with curing salt and brown sugar to a brine. Allow the brine to cool and then inject the meat with a brine syringe. Crush the juniper berries and peppercorns and add them to the remaining brine along with the bay leaf and cloves. Place the pork belly and brine in a freezer bag, seal tightly, and refrigerate for 12 hours. Remove the meat, rinse, dry, season with pepper, and spread with mustard. Vacuum-seal the pork belly and cook in a water bath at 65 degrees Celsius for 24 hours. Once the cooking time is complete, remove the meat from the vacuum-sealed bag, score the rind in diamond shapes, and grill it in the oven until crispy. Slice the pork belly and serve with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.