Author: STELLA

 Serve with Puy lentils and a grape and cucumber salsa

“Sous-vide”-cooking is a method used to cook food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for longer than normal cooking times, sometimes as long as 72 hours, at a regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking. The intention is to cook the item (mostly tough cuts of meat) evenly, preventing the food from overcooking whilst keeping it juicy, succulent and tender.

For the pork belly:
1 stalk lemongrass, hard outside removed, the core finely chopped
1 teaspoon/5 ml white pepper, freshly ground
2 teaspoons/10 ml Chinese five-spice powder (mix your own)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons/10 ml fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 red chilies, seeds removed, finely chopped
Kosher salt
1 kg/2 lb pork belly, without bone
1⅓  cup/300 ml pork stock
2 tablespoons/30 ml vegetable oil
1 tablespoon/15 ml cornstarch (optional)
2 tablespoons/30 ml cold water
1 tablespoon/15 ml fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon/15 ml fresh chives. finely chopped

For the sweetbreads:
900 g/2 lbs sweetbreads
1 tablespoon/30 ml salt
1 tablespoon/30 ml vinegar
¼ cup/60 ml flour plus extra salt
2 teaspoons/10 ml garlic powder
2 egg, whisked
2 cups/500 ml Panko breadcrumbs
oil for deep-frying

For the Puy lentils:
1½ cup/375 ml Puy lentils
2 cups/500 ml chicken stock
¼ cup/60 ml carrot, finely diced
¼ cup/60 ml celery, finely diced
¼ cup/60 ml shallots, finely diced
2 tablespoons/30 ml sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons/30 ml olive oil
2 tablespoons/30 ml chives, finely sliced
2 tablespoons/30 ml parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons/30 ml toasted walnut, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For the salsa garnish:
about 32 green grapes, peeled (you do not have to peel them, but it looks nicer and the skin of some grapes might be a bit tough)
1 cup/250 ml cucumber finely diced
1 tablespoon/15 ml rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons/10 ml fine sugar
2 tablespoons/30 ml chives finely sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
a selection of micro leaves

To make the marinade for the pork belly, mix the lemongrass, five spice, garlic, ginger, salt and chilies and add to the pork stock in a jug. Mix well. Place the pork in a food grade plastic bag and pour in the stock with the marinade mix. Seal the bag in the vacuum sealer and leave in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.

To make the pouring of the liquid into the bag easier, put the bag (open side up) in a deep container.

Preheat the oven to 120º C/248ºF.

When ready to cook the pork, heat enough water in the ovenproof dish with a lid (to cover the bag) to the same temperature as you have set the oven. Carefully lower the bag with the pork into the hot water, bring the water back to the original temperature (that of the oven), cover the surface of the water with a cartouche and cover with the lid.

A cartouche is a paper lid to, amongst other things, put on top of slow cooking food. The purpose is to keep the food submerged in the liquid. To make your own, take a square piece of parchment paper, slightly larger than the pan. Note the center of  and fold it in half and in half again to form a square with the center of paper now at one corner.  align the edges of the folded paper that diverge from the corner and make a fold.  Keep folding it the same so that you have a narrow sector shape with a wide end and a tip of the center which will become the center of the cartouche.  Measure the length of the folded paper from the center of the pan to the rim.  /cut away any excess at the wide end.  Cut off the tip — about 1½ cm/⅝ in — which will make the hole in the center through which the steam will escape . Open up the folded paper and shape it as necessary to form a circle. Your cartouche is now ready.

Cover the dish with its lid and place in the oven. Cook for 3 hours. When the cooking time has expired, carefully remove the cartouche then the bag from the hot water with tongs and put the bag in a deep dish. Cut the bag open and let the meat and juices slide out of the bag into the dish.  (Do this with great care because the contents will be very hot.) Carefully lift the meat out and place skin side up on a baking tray, put another baking tray on top with some weight to flatten the piece of meat. Chill for at least 2 hours. Just before serving, heat the oil in a frying pan to medium heat and place the pork, skin side down, to crisp up for 10-15 minutes. Put in a warm oven to warm through.

Be careful because quite a lot of spatting will take place.

Meanwhile, strain the sauce into a saucepan and over high heat, reduce to the desired consistency. The sauce will have all the flavors of the marinade as well as the meat. If desired, thicken with some corn starch mixed with some cold water, then strain again. Stir in the coriander and chives.

For the sweetbreads, separate them into about 4 cm/1½ in blocks. In a large saucepan, bring enough water to cover the sweetbreads to a boil and add the salt, vinegar and sweetbreads. Boil the sweetbreads for 5 minutes, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of iced water.  Carefully peel off the thin membrane then continue to do the deep-frying.

Personally, I do not think that the membrane causes any problems should you leave them, but to please the purists, I feel I must mention it.

Get three bowls ready: one with the flour, one with the whisked egg and one with the crumbs. In a deep pan heat the oil to 180ºC/356ºF. Coat each piece of sweetbread with the flour then roll it in the egg and finally cover in the breadcrumbs. Carefully place each piece in the hot oil (you might have to do this in batches) and fry until golden brown all round — 3-4 minutes. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Keep uncovered in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan and over medium heat, put the lentils, the chicken stock, carrot, celery and shallots and bring to the boil. Boil for 20 minutes without adding salt. Test the lentils for tenderness and strain. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix carefully and keep warm until ready to serve.

For the salsa, drain the cucumber and mix with the grapes and chives.

To serve:
On preheated plates, spoon the Puy lentils, place the pork and sweetbreads at random and carefully pour the sauce around (not over the pork and sweetbreads, it might affect the crispiness of the skin and crumb coating).   Scatter the grape and cucumber salsa around and sprinkle over the micro leaves.  Serve immediately.