Sous Vide Pork Belly with mashed potatoes, compressed apples and an apple jus
Recipes,  Winter

Sous Vide Pork Belly

Sous Vide Pork Belly Recipe

Sous Vide Pork Belly with mashed potatoes, compressed apples and an apple jus
Sous Vide Pork Belly with mashed potatoes, compressed apples and apple jus

Right on time for the festive season, this recipe for sous vide pork belly is guaranteed to impress your guests. This is a modern play on the classic pork and apple combination, and I kept the ingredient list to a minimum in order to maintain the focus on the two main flavours. I used the sous vide cooking technique for the pork belly in order to obtain that soft and tender texture of the meat. What I like about sous vide cooking is the temperature control element, which enables me to get great results all the time. Take a look at my vitello tonnato recipe to see another application of this cooking method.

Sous Vide Pork Belly Recipe Notes

The main ingredient is obviously the pork belly. Look out for a nice whole piece of pork belly, with even layers of fat and meat and of course, with the crackling intact. 

Salt is very important in the cooking of pork belly – so be generous with it. Use Maldon salt or any other coarse sea salt.

Sous vide cooking times and temperatures could be adjusted – for example you can lower the temperature and increase the cooking time and vice-versa. Indeed, some chefs recommend cooking the pork belly sous vide at a 63C temperature for 5-6 hours – so if you have the time, you can definitely try that. 

When transferring to the oven, maintain a high temperature at the beginning (go for 200C or even 220C) and then lower the temperature to 180C. This technique will help you getting that nice crispy crackling texture. 

The ingredients in the recipe below are enough for 4 servings.

Sous Vide Pork Belly

Andra Constantinescu
Pork belly cooked sous vide and served with mashed potatoes, compressed apples and apple jus

Ingredients

For the pork belly:

  • 500 g pork belly (with crackling)
  • 5 g salt (Maldon)

For the mash:

  • 200 g potatoes (peeled and cubed)
  • 50 g butter
  • 1 pinch salt (Maldon)

For the compressed apples:

  • 2 Pink Lady apples (peeled, cored and cubed)
  • 100 ml apple juice

For the apple jus

  • 100 ml apple juice
  • 300 ml beef stock
  • 100 ml white wine
  • 1 tsp orange marmalade
  • 1 pinch salt (Maldon)

Instructions

Sous vide pork belly

  • Preheat the oven at 200C,
  • Rub the pork belly generously with Maldon salt.
  • Seal in a vacuum bag, then cook sous vide at 65C for 3 hours.
  • Remove the pork belly from the vacuum bag, place on a roasting tray and season with Maldon salt.
  • Roast in the oven for 15 minutes at 200C, then lower the temperature to 180C and continue roasting for 1 hour or until the crackling is fully crisped.

Potato mash

  • Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft, then remove all the liquid and mash them in the same pan used for boiling.
    Return the pan to the stove on a very low heat, then gradually add the butter while vigorously mixing the mash. Season with salt.

Compressed apples:

  • Place the cubed apples in a vacuum bag, and add 20 ml of apple juice. Seal the bag and store it in the fridge for 3 hours.
    Transfer the cubed apples and apple juice in the pan and cook for 20 minutes on low heat.

Apple jus:

  • Place all liquids in a pan and let it simmer on low heat until reduced to a quarter. Season with salt, add the orange marmalade and continue simmering until the jus is thick and shiny. 

Notes

Special equipment needed for this recipe includes:

For more recipes and festive inspiration follow me on Instagram at @mintandrosemary.

Also, if you’re looking for a last minute foodie gift, head over to my Amazon Influencer page for a list of carefully curated foodie gifts. 

Andra Constantinescu

I am a classically trained chef, with a BSc in Culinary Arts and a Masters Degree in Food Business Management.

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