Drunken Pork Tummy

This recipe for beer steamed pork belly was created when I found a few cans of lager in my fridge that someone had brought over and left. Basically I didn’t want to drink it (I think it was Toohey’s Red) and started thinking of ways to cook with it.

This just worked. I’ve made it a number of times since and never really adjusted the ingredients (other than the type of beer used. More on that later)…

The best thing? It’s one of those meals that couldn’t be easier to make, but looks (and tastes) really flash. That I like!

Okay here’s what you’ll need –

·        1kg (approx) slab of pork belly

·        1 can/bottle of light coloured beer (lager, pale, pilsner)

·        3 or 4 garlic cloves

·        Tablespoon fennel seeds

·        Teaspoon of Chinese five spice

·        ½ teaspoon of cinnamon

·        Olive oil

·        Salt

Dipping Sauce –

·        Dijon Mustard

·        Honey

·        Light Soy Sauce

Prepare the pork belly by rubbing the fat/skin with some paper towel to remove any moisture, and then rub in with your hand a few good dollops of olive oil. Then cover the skin with a healthy (I mean unhealthy) amount of salt. Make sure all the skin is covered.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a fry pan (enough so the pork doesn’t stick) and fry the pork (skin side down) for 2 or 3 minutes. Stand back cos the pork will crackle and spit like a cut snake. This should give the skin a slightly crisp look about it. Remove from fry pan and set aside.

Take a roasting tray that’s at least a few inches deep and pour in the beer, fennel seeds, Chinese five spice, cinnamon and the garlic (simply smack the cloves with your hand or base of a knife and throw them in skin and all).

Place a roasting rack in the centre of the tray and sit the pork on the rack (skin side up). The pork should be sitting just above the beer but not submerged in it. You can add more beer if the tide looks a long way out, as long as piggy isn’t wet. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the skin (don’t touch it unless you want 3^rd degree burns) and crack a tiny bit more salt over the skin as you would have lost some in the fry pan.

Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees centigrade and cook uncovered for 30 mins. Then reduce to 200 degrees and cook for a further 1.5 hours.

After 2 hours in the oven the pork flesh should be light brown in colour and juicy/tender, and the skin hard and crackly.

Whilst the pork belly cooks make sure you prepare the dipping sauce. Quantities will depend on how many are eating the dish but you’re basically looking at a mix of half Dijon mustard, half honey (couple of tablespoons of each) and a small dash of soy sauce.

Now whilst that’s cooking lets talk briefly about the beer. As I said, I’ve tried this with cheap run of the mill lager, home brew (pilsner, lager) or a more hop driven pale ale. Any difference can’t really be noticed which is very handy when looking through the bar fridge last minute to make it. Remember that the pork is only steamed by the beer rather than cooked in it so using different beer styles is not going to dramatically affect the finished product.

Cut into equal portions and serve with the honey mustard dipping sauce, oven roasted rosemary potatoes and green beans…or whatever the heck you like!

Whilst wine is traditionally the drink of choice when it comes to cooking with alcohol, there’s many things you can do with beer in the kitchen…whether you even like beer, or simply don’t want to drink a particular beer stuck up the back of your fridge!

Stay tuned for future instalments of Short & Stout Slurrings…which you never know, might even include other original recipes using beer!

Till then,

Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!

Nice Work Bro!

Like a lot of people, I have travelled the world, worked overseas and (happily) returned to Australia. You drink the local beers of the country you’re in (at least I hope you do) and then return home hoping to find those beers. You do it cos you like them but to also relive that travel experience.

However what brothers Dave and Andrew have done is very much the fantasy of many of us beer drinking types.

After working in the US, they returned to Australia but missed American craft beers so much they decided to start a brewery and make their own US inspired beers. Stuff fantasies are based on. Or at least beer fantasies…

The first thing you notice before entering 2 Brothers Brewery is the fact it’s set in an industrial area of Moorabbin. Not the sort of area you’d expect to visit a brewery. Or at least not the type that doubles as a really cool beer hall.

The first thing you notice when you enter the brewery is the brewing equipment they have shipped in from the US (from a defunct New York brewery). In homage to the US each tank is named after a New York district – Brooklyn, Harlem, Hells Kitchen and so on. Quaint.

The other thing you notice is the size of the brewery. From the front it looks tiny; barely big enough for 20 people let alone beer making equipment. I home brew in my laundry. What on earth do these guys do? But once inside it is rather spacious. And what a great view! Behind the bar is the working brewery itself. There’s something about sitting and drinking your beer whilst looking at an active brewery brewing its brew. Hard to say. Good to do.

The brewery does basic really well. Simple $8 pizzas served on a paper plate (but bloody tasty), and what’s on tap you’re welcome to try if you ask – which is handy as they don’t actually offer a beer paddle option. We made sure we tried everything then settled on a pint of Growler to savour.

2 Brothers is well known for their numerous award winning seasonal beers such as Rusty, Voodoo, Guvnor, Terminator and so on. Being seasonal however means none were currently being brewed. Best you get for now are posters of the beers covering the walls!

Here’s a brief overview of their current brews on tap:

Taxi Pilsner

Very light coloured pilsner. Easy to drink and would go down very well during a beer drinking session on a hot summer’s day. Much more flavour than its pale light colour would suggest!

Growler

American style brown ale. You’d have to brew an American brown ale with all that American brewing equipment wouldn’t you? It’s an extremely good brown ale…malty, slightly hoppy and just a little fruity. Very much enjoyed the Growler.

Kung Foo (Seasonal Beer)

Their current seasonal beer, colour wise Kung Foo is as light as a lager but its taste is a pleasant surprise. Reminded me of numerous craft beers available in Japan, there’s a hint of lemongrass, ginger, grass…the brew is actually classified as a rice lager. Very summery, would go well with a massive plate of sashimi. Not bad at all.

Tabooki (Seasonal Beer)

Not available for tasting, however I have come across this funky named brew at a previous Fed Square Microbrewery Showcase. It’s an African Amber…unique name wise, but taste is more akin to a strong Belgium Ale (8%). Malty biscuit in a glass.

Gypsy Pear Cider

I’d say available more widely around Melbourne than any of their beers, Gypsy Cider is what a cider should be – crisp, dry but with a slightly sweet aftertaste and refreshing. A very decent microbrewery cider if you dig the pear variety.

Unfortunately the brewery is only open Thursdays and Fridays (until late), making it a little difficult to get to, but it really is worth checking out. To assist in drinking their beers, 2 Brothers offers a take home 2 litre bottle (‘growler’) filled with the beer of your choice (also an American inspired concept). As it is tapped draught beer, it should really be consumed within two weeks. Mine, filled with their Growler (no relation) was gone 2 days later. 2 Brothers can refill the growler at any time for $18 making the overall beer drinking, brewery visiting experience just that little more special. 

Now it’s just a matter of finding some time to get back there so they can refill it!

Till then,

Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!