Capers

Canal House's Pork Belly with Gingery Rhubarb Compote

by:
April 19, 2021
5
5 Ratings
Canal House's Pork Belly with Gingery Rhubarb Compote
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

The secrets to releasing pork belly's magic don't require any special machinery or a food handler's certificate -- they're techniques you already know, or can learn on the fly. You won't be able to whip this up on a whim, but there's not much expected of you, other than patience. Adapted slightly from Bon Appetit. —Genius Recipes

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Pork Belly
  • 3 pounds pork belly, skin removed, fat intact
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 medium onion, sliced into 1/2-inch rings
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • Gingery Rhubarb Compote
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
  • 1 tablespoon drained capers
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound rhubarb, trimmed, sliced 1/2-inch thick
Directions
  1. Using a sharp knife, score pork belly fat in a crosshatch pattern at about 3/4-inch intervals, taking care not to cut into meat.
  2. Mix thyme, sugar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Rub thyme mixture on both sides of pork. Place pork in a large resealable plastic bag, seal bag, and chill at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
  3. Preheat oven to 250°. Arrange onion in bottom of a large heavy pot with a lid. Rinse pork and place fat side up on top of onion; add wine.
  4. Cover pot; place in oven and braise pork, basting occasionally, until fork-tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Increase oven temperature to 400°. Uncover pot and cook until meat is very tender and fat is crisp and golden brown, about 1 hour longer. If the onions are starting to get dark before the pork, add a bit more wine.
  5. To make compote: Combine brown sugar, raisins, vinegar, ginger, capers, red pepper flakes, and black pepper in a medium skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
  6. Add rhubarb to skillet and stir to coat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until rhubarb is tender and liquid is syrupy, about 15 minutes.
  7. Note: Compote can be made 5 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Reheat before using.
  8. Slice pork and serve with Gingery Rhubarb Compote.
Tags:

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Kevin French
    Kevin French
  • Chef Devaux
    Chef Devaux
  • Emma
    Emma
  • derekp
    derekp
Genius Recipes

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

Popular on Food52

13 Reviews

Jessamin
Jessamin December 21, 2020
This is so good! Using another commentor's question as a suggestion, I made the compote with cranberries instead of rhubarb as that's what's in season. I will continue making it that way, we loved it. The bonus with the cranberries is that you end up with a more piece-y compote closer to what is actually pictured.
 
sayre
sayre November 5, 2018
This pork was so good! Served it with homemade applesauce instead of the rhubarb, potatoes, and a lemony fennel slaw. Yum!
 
Kevin F.
Kevin F. January 3, 2016
This turned out really well, despite my miss of the instructions to rinse the pork belly after the overnight rest. We will be making this again, for sure.
 
Chef D.
Chef D. November 25, 2015
Oh yes! the best recipe for porkbelly :)
 
sianbum
sianbum May 24, 2015
This was truly superb. Best thing I've made in ages. We didn't have candied ginger, so used regular ginger instead and it was still delicious.
 
Rob M.
Rob M. May 21, 2015
I always pour boiling water over the pork belly after scoring the fat, this makes the fat shrink a little and opens up the score marks so the heat can penetrate.
Just place the slab in a sink and pour over a kettle of boiling water.
 
kaleandsalt
kaleandsalt April 25, 2015
So I'm making this now, and the belly has been in the oven 2 hours and is nowhere near to fork tender. My husband bought 3.3 lbs, and it's an unfamiliar oven, but I'm getting worried since my in-laws are rigid about dinner time. I turned it up to 300 and hopefully that works, since the compote is delicious and I love pork belly...
 
Emma
Emma April 20, 2015
It was delicious.I shall use the last part of the pork in a brioche bun with the rest of the compote, spread on top ! yum
 
Jordan5
Jordan5 February 7, 2014
Can I substitute the rhubarb with cranberries since rhubarb is out of season right mow?
 
jmspdx
jmspdx July 17, 2013
This was truly excellent, and one of the easiest braises I've ever made. The compote is delicious with it. No, it doesn't come out with crisp-looking components like the photo (in real life, it looks more like jam), but if you use the swirl technique, and keep the spoon out of it once the rhubarb goes in, you'll have a more refined finished product.
 
bobbie J.
bobbie J. July 4, 2013
A+ on the pork belly itself. easy method: i will definitely keep this recipe and do this again. it really didn't need much else to flavor it - even a small dab of dijon would have worked with it.
B on the compote - maybe i didn't get it quite right, but the flavors didn't seem as balanced as i wanted them to be. also, my rhubarb broke down really quickly - didn't come out as nice as the photo. so, it might be my bad...
 
derekp
derekp July 7, 2013
Rhubarb cooked for 15 minutes is never going to look like what's in the photo, but it was an excellent compote, I thought. Overall a very well-written recipe.
 
Chef K.
Chef K. June 26, 2013
Made the pork belly (changed nothing) and it turned out crispy, golden brown, and the fat just melted in my mouth. Now about that cholesterol ...