Sunday 7 September 2014

Schezuan Plum Pork using Brined Pork

 
Schezuan Plum Pork using Brined Pork by Carole's Chatter


I read in Michael Ruhlman's book that brining meat is a good thing to do.  I do have trouble getting lean cuts of pork tender so I decided to give it a go.  
 
Brining pork by Carole's Chatter
 
To brine the pork, I salted it with sea salt and then put it into a container and just covered it with water.  I also added some white peppercorns, yellow mustard seeds, a bay leaf and some Thai fish sauce.  I didn't have time to brine it for very long – just under 3 hours.
I then cut the pork up into pieces and made this Schezuan Plum Pork in much the same way I would make any Schezuan (or is it Sichuan?) dish.
First I fried off a little red curry paste in coconut milk and then added freshly ground Sichuan pepper and coriander seeds.  At this stage I also put in ½ tsp of tamarind paste (for the sour element), some grated ginger and some fish sauce.  
Then in went the pork followed by some maple syrup and ¼ cup of plum sauce (the sweet elements)
My apologies for the lack of food styling.  My better half kindly put the pork into the serving dish and did not faff about trying to make it look pretty. 
The verdict on the brining – well the pork was ok but not sensationally tender – I'll give it another go with a longer brining time and maybe a bit more salt.

7 comments:

  1. I've had good luck with brining pork but I've normally kept in the brine for at least 8 hours so maybe that was the difference? The dish sounds delicious! I'm always looking for different ways to use pork.

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  2. I've never tried brining before. Looking forward to hearing more about your attempts to tenderize pork.

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  3. I have a friend who brines lots of meats, especially turkey. I've never tried it though, I use meat tenderizer and a meat mallet.

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  4. The only thing I have brined is a Thanksgiving turkey; I may have to try this one.

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  5. I have brined turkey and chicken but not other meats. I might have to do some experimenting.

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  6. Like Diane, I've only brined a Thanksgiving - but am definitely willing to experiment with pork, too!

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  7. I rarely use salt in general so I'd be leery of the brining process but I know pork can be a tough meat so I hope you work it out.

    Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out

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