Once overshadowed by its cured and sliced counterpart bacon, pork belly has seen a recent rise in popularity, due in no small part to our current fascination with ramen and of Momofuku. However, there's much more to this fatty cut. Give a 5-pound pork belly to Tamar Adler and Antonia James, and see how they use it for days. Swap around the spices and watch the pork belly transfer from your noodle bowl to your taco shell. Braise it simply, slice it up, and enjoy the little morsels on a piece of crostini. Use the rendered fat and braising liquid leftover to give everything a little extra porky flavor.
With the Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks heading into its final rounds -- have you been keeping up? -- it's prime time to give pork belly some attention. Here are 6 recipes to get you started:
Open Faced, Fresh Bacon Crostino by Tamar Adler
Momofuku's Pork Buns by Merrill Stubbs
Mushroom Ramen by thirschfield
Pork Belly Carnitas by meatified
Roasted Pork Belly by monkeymom
Canal House's Pork Belly with Gingery Rhubarb Compote by Genius Recipes
A New Way to Dinner, co-authored by Food52's founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, is an indispensable playbook for stress-free meal-planning (hint: cook foundational dishes on the weekend and mix and match ‘em through the week).
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