mmm....pork belly Lengthy disquisition AND question inside...
→[More:]So, a couple of weeks ago I had the maple-braised pork belly served at brunch
at this restaurant, which, since it opened last year has become my favorite place in Portland for both dinner and brunch. This maple-braised pork belly was possibly the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. (Get your minds out of the damn gutter, please...)
Fast forward to this weekend, when I was out at
Uwajimaya in Beaverton, where I ran across and purchased a beautiful-looking piece of Carlton Farms pork belly.
Now I want to make my own damn maple-braised pork belly, but I can't find a recipe anywhere-- on-line or in any of my cookbooks.
I figure I'll just give it a 3 or 4 day dry cure in a sugar / salt / pepper / spice rub followed by an all-day crockpot bath in apple cider, maple syrup, and maybe some stock, followed by pan-searing individual serving pieces to get them nice and crispy on the outside. I'll serve it with cornmeal pancakes or something, probably.
But this is a lot of time effort to go to if I'm risking fucking it up. If any of you actually has a real recipe for something like this, please to hope me?
Please?