pork-belly-braised-in-barleywine-300Served with Beer Stewed Black Lentils

 

When thinking about a rich piece of meat, such as a pork belly, a big gnarly barleywine comes to mind.  Aggressive with hops to try to find balance with a over the top malt bill, a barleywine style ale is a great beer style to slowly braise this cut of pork, the same cut that becomes bacon when cured.  The hops and malt from this beer style will help cut the rich and fatty cut of meat, finding the sweet porkiness that we all love, while having a tender, succulent and delicious finish.

The addition of earthy lentils to the plate, adds texture, a touch of coffee | chocolate | roast from the porter style beer, adding to the herbal and malt tones from the braising liquid sauce.  There are many different approaches on this beer pairing.  See below the recipe and technique to see how you can adjust this base recipe to enhance the pairing elements and possibilities.

 

Serves: 8 as an entrée or 16 used in a multi-course meal

Barleywine Braised Pork Belly
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Barleywine Braised Pork Belly: A beer braised pork belly technique, that brings the interplay of hops, malt and sweet pork belly into a great canvas and centerpiece to play off for the beer pairing experience at the table.
Servings Prep Time
8 guest 20 minute
Cook Time Passive Time
3 hour 24 hour
Servings Prep Time
8 guest 20 minute
Cook Time Passive Time
3 hour 24 hour
Barleywine Braised Pork Belly
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Print Recipe
Barleywine Braised Pork Belly: A beer braised pork belly technique, that brings the interplay of hops, malt and sweet pork belly into a great canvas and centerpiece to play off for the beer pairing experience at the table.
Servings Prep Time
8 guest 20 minute
Cook Time Passive Time
3 hour 24 hour
Servings Prep Time
8 guest 20 minute
Cook Time Passive Time
3 hour 24 hour
Ingredients
Barleywine Braised Pork Belly Ingredients:
Beer Stewed Black Lentil Ingredients:
Servings: guest
Units:
Instructions
Barleywine Braised Pork Belly Directions:
  • Take either a Dutch-oven or a large sauté pan and place over medium heat. Season the pork belly on both sides with salt and pepper. Taking the fat side of the belly, lay onto the preheated surface. Place a skillet or baking dish over the meat to help press it down (one that will fit the pan being used), to help evenly brown the surface and render the fat. As this cooks, every 3 - 4 minutes, pour off the fat into a mason jar (great with eggs, in pie dough or even cookies). After the meat is browned, about 12 minutes, flip the belly over.
  • Deglaze the pan with the barleywine, then add the chicken stock, thyme and bay leaf. The liquid should come up the sides of the pork by about ⅔rds. Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn off the heat, cover with a lid and place into a preheated 300°F | 149°C oven. Cook the pork for about 3 hours. The meat should be very tender, when pressed with the back of a spoon. Remove from the oven. At this point the belly can be served or let to cool to room temperature. The belly is better, if let to cool, then transferred to a baking dish, when it can be pressed, compressing the lays of meat and expelling some of the fat. To do this, wrap the dish with plastic wrap, then weigh down the belly with a equal size pan adding a few heavy cans. Let sit overnight. The next day, remove (and reserve) any congealed liquid.
  • In a clean sauté pan, preheated over medium heat, place the belly fat side down. After about 4 - 5 minutes, add in the reserved cooking liquid. Bring slowly to a simmer, to re-warm the meat. Baste with the sauce that is in the pan. After about 15 minutes, carefully remove the belly to a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Place the pan back over the heat, letting the liquid reduce to a sauce consistency. Portion out the belly into serving size portions, about a 2 inch square. Once the sauce has thickened, check for seasoning and prepare for service.
  • Place the pan back over the heat, letting the liquid reduce to a sauce consistency. Portion out the belly into serving size portions, about a 2 inch square. Once the sauce has thickened, check for seasoning and prepare for service.
Beer Stewed Black Lentil Directions:
  • For the lentils: in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat, add the oil. Once hot, add the carrots and onions, sautéing until lightly caramelized, about 4 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Mix in the lentils and stir to combine. Add the beer and stock, bringing the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat to create a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally for 40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender, but still hold their shape. Remove from heat and drain any remaining liquid, keeping the lentils in the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm till ready to serve.
To Serve:
  • Add the lentils to the center of the plate. Place a pork square into the mound of lentils and sauce the pork belly with the barleywine reduction. Garnish with fresh herbs like sage, or a fried sage leaf.
Recipe Notes

Ingredient Information:

For pork belly, as with other non-ordinary cuts of meat you might not find in the pre-packaged section of a grocery store, is usually a special order item.  This is where it is suggested to get to know the people whom call themselves butchers.  Ask them to order you a side of pig belly.  Belly is great to make your own bacon, to use in sausage, pâté and this dish.

 

Beer Pairing Suggestions:

As this dish has a lot of different elements to play off, the beer pairing can enhance particular nuances of this dish.  Here are a few ideas and the reasoning:

  • American Amber | Red Ale - this style has both malt and hops, that will bring out unique flavors in the final beer selection.  The caramel toffee undertones from the malt bill in this style will reinforce the sweetness of the pig and especially this cut.  The hops in the barleywine will have been cooked and reduced from the cooking technique.  A touch of barley malt syrup or honey will add bit of balance, if the hop bitterness becomes to astringent.  The hop brightness of the Amber | Red will amplify the herbal, hop notes in the meat | braising liquid reduction.  Then the light burnt, weak coffee undertone in the brew will complement the porter cooked black lentils.  The addition of a gremolata, adjusted to the hop flavors you identify in the Amber | Red ale you choice.  Fennel fonds [to further intensify the herbal hop tones], tangerine zest [or other citrus zest: grapefruit, lemon, lime, yuzu, honey tangerine, blood orange, navel, etc.], to even adding a fine dice of the hop cone used in the brewing of the pairing beer.  Adjusting the herbs, or addition of other herbs to the highlight flavors in you taste in the beer further the experience of being able to tweak a recipe, making it own, while having guidelines to make it special.  Thyme [grassy], sage [earthy savory with some resin] , savory [grassy while herby], rosemary [resin, rich, aroma therapy], chervil [anise, fennel, grassy, bright herb], oregano [herbal, grassy, earthy] to basil [mint, bright herb, floral], lemon verbena [bright, citrus, aroma therapy], chive [garlicy, grassy] and the list goes on and on.  Picking out a few key flavors in the beer and adjusting the percentage of each herb to layer the flavors and balance intensities, will boost the food and beer pairing.
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