There are a lot of parts to this dish, so the recipes can be made togeth­er to assemble the com­plete dish, or each indi­vidu­al com­pon­ent can be made on its own and used in a dif­fer­ent way. I believe in treat­ing anim­als with respect, and to me that means using happy, free-range anim­als and leav­ing noth­ing to waste. We use Long­bush free-range pork from the Wair­ar­apa and get our pork delivered whole. This recipe uses all of the pig in dif­fer­ent ways on the one plate.

Assiette of pork

 

Ingredients

 

Pork con­fit

• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 tsp juni­per berries
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 12 sprigs thyme
• 6 bay leaves
• ½ cup Mal­don salt
• 1kg pork shoulder
• 1kg duck fat

 

Sous vide loin

• 250g pork loin
• 4 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs sage
• 2 cloves garlic

 

Baby tof­fee apples

• 100g sug­ar
• 100ml water
• Squeeze of lem­on juice
• 4 baby apples

 

Car­rot purée

• 500g car­rots, peeled and chopped
• 50g onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 cori­ander root
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground cori­ander seed
• ½ tsp curry powder
• ½ red chilli, chopped and seeds removed
• ½ cup water
• 100ml coconut cream
• Fish sauce, to taste
• Lime juice, to taste

 

Port reduc­tion

• 100ml port
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 sprigs sage
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 pep­per­corns

 

Pork-offal pud­ding with suet pastry

• 175g pork back fat
• 175g pork offal — any or all of kid­ney, heart, liver
• 50g onion, finely diced
• 1 clove gar­lic, minced
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 150g pork mince
• 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
• Salt and pepper
• 250g flour
• 125g grated suet
• 1 tsp bak­ing powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup water

 

Braised cab­bage

• 1 tsp cook­ing oil
• 50g bacon, diced
• 1 clove gar­lic, minced
• ½ orange, juiced and zest finely grated
• 65ml sherry vinegar
• 65g palm sug­ar, grated
• 1 star anise
• ½ tsp thyme, finely chopped
• 25g whole­grain mustard
• ½ savoy cab­bage, sliced

 

Vanilla and cider reduction

• ½ vanilla pod
• 250ml cider
• 100ml apple juice

 

To serve

• 60ml jus
• Small pun­net of pea shoots

Method

 

Pork con­fit

1. Blend the first five con­fit ingredi­ents in a food pro­cessor and then pulse in the salt.
2. Rub the pork shoulder with the salt mix­ture and mar­in­ate for 8–12 hours, then wash the salt off thor­oughly under cold run­ning water.
3. Place the pork in a deep bak­ing dish, cov­er with the duck fat and roast at 130˚C for 3–4 hours or until the pork is very tender and nearly fall­ing off the bone. Remove the pork from the fat and take out any bones, skin and sinew, ensur­ing that you keep some of the fat for mois­ture and fla­vour. Roll and torque in cling film, then chill to set. Once cold, cut into tourne­dos and roast at 160˚C for 5 minutes or until hot in the centre.

 

Sous vide loin

4. Por­tion the pork loin and vacu­um seal each piece in a plastic bag with 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of sage and ½ clove of gar­lic. Sous vide in a water cir­cu­lat­or at 54˚C for 1 hour. Remove the por­tions from their bags and pan-fry until golden brown. Rest for 10 minutes before carving.

 

Baby tof­fee apples

5. Com­bine the sug­ar, water and lem­on juice in a pot. Place on the stove and cook to car­a­mel stage, then leave to cool slightly.
6. Dry the apples and care­fully dip them in the car­a­mel, shake off the excess and place on a tray lined with bak­ing paper to cool.

 

Car­rot purée

7. Place everything except the coconut cream, fish sauce and lime juice in a deep bak­ing dish, cov­er with tin­foil and bake at 160˚C until the car­rot is very tender (about 1–2 hours).
8. Blend in a food pro­cessor and add enough coconut cream to make a nice purée con­sist­ency, then sea­son with fish sauce and lime juice.

 

Port reduc­tion

9. Sim­mer all the ingredi­ents togeth­er in a pot until the reduc­tion becomes syr­upy. Pass through a sieve.

 

Pork-offal pud­ding with suet pastry

10. Fine chop or coarsely mince the back fat and offal. Mix togeth­er with the onion, gar­lic, mice, herbs and season­ing, and fold in the port reduction.
11. Mix togeth­er the flour, suet, bak­ing powder, salt and water, and knead lightly, adding a little more water if the dough becomes too stiff. Roll out into small circles, add the pork filling, seal the edges and brush the top with egg wash. Bake at 180˚C until golden brown.

 

Braised cab­bage

12. Heat the oil and sweat off the bacon and garlic.
13. Add all the remain­ing ingredi­ents except the cab­bage and bring to a sim­mer. Cook for 3 minutes to dis­solve the sugar.
14. Add the cab­bage, cov­er with bak­ing paper and cook over a low heat until the cab­bage is tender and the liquid has reduced.

 

Vanilla and cider reduction

15. Split the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds out into a sauce­pan. Add the cider and apple juice and sim­mer to a light syrup.

 

To serve

16. Smear some of the hot car­rot purée on each plate and place a table­spoon of hot braised cab­bage next to it. Arrange the hot pork shoulder, loin and offal pud­ding on the plate nicely, along with the tof­fee apple and the cider reduc­tion. Fin­ish with some hot jus and pea shoots.

 

Serves 4