Crisp pork belly with oyster stew, thyme and fennel
Ingredients
For the pork belly
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds, crushed
- 1 lemon, zest only
- ½ pork belly, on the bone, trimmed to a neat rectangle, skin scored
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the oyster stew
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- ½ celery, finely chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 150ml/5fl oz dry white wine
- 25g/1oz unsalted butter
- 200ml/7fl oz double cream
- 12 oysters, opened and fleshed removed, juice reserved
- 1 tsp finely chopped fennel fronds
- 1 tsp finely chopped chervil
- 1 tsp finely chopped tarragon
- 1 tsp finely chopped dill
- 1 unwaxed lemon, zest only
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7
To make the pork belly, mix the garlic, fennel seeds and lemon zest together with some salt and pepper and rub into the pork belly flesh. Place the pork skin-side up on a rack over a roasting tin with 2cm/1in of water in the bottom. Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and roast for a further 2½ hours.
Remove the pork from the oven and allow to cool slightly, then slice into thick strips.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the pork belly strips for a few minutes on each side until golden-brown.
Meanwhile, to make the oyster stew, heat the oil in a medium sauté pan and cook the onion, celery, fennel and thyme for 10 minutes, or until soft. Add the wine and reduce the volume of the liquid by half. Add the cream, bring to the boil and simmer for two minutes. Add the oysters and season with salt and pepper then stir in half of the herbs and lemon zest.
To serve, spoon some oysters and sauce onto a plate, garnish with the remaining herbs and lay the crisp belly strips alongside.