Smoked Pecan & honey lacquered pork belly, Black Eye Pea Purée with butternut gel, jalapeño chips, crispy kale and cornbread crumb
Recipe courtesy of Ben Simpkins, CEC, CCA, AAC, Executive Chef of The Dunes Golf & Beach Club (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Ingredients
- For pork rub:
- smoked paprika - as needed
- coriander - as needed
- kosher salt - as needed
- cracked black pepper - as needed
- ground ginger - as needed
- granulated garlic - as needed
- granulated onion - as needed
- olive oil - as needed
- For Pecan Wood Smoked Pork Belly Honey Lacquered
- pork belly - 1 ea., skinned and scored (Duroc preferably)
- mini pecan logs - 6 ea.
- honey - 1 cup
- For Black Eye Pea Puree:
- water - 6 cups
- black eye peas - 2 cups, washed
- shallots - 1 Tbsp., minced
- butter or bacon fat - 2 oz.
- Jack Daniels Honey - 2 oz.
- vegetable stock - 6 cups
- bay leaf - 1 ea.
- pork belly trim - as needed and whatever is available
- thyme - 4 sprigs
- chopped garlic - 1 Tbsp.
- salt - to taste
- hot sauce - to taste
- For Butternut Squash Fluid Gel
- carrot juice - 250 g.
- butternut cube - 150 g.
- agar agar - 5 g.
- allspice - 1/2 tsp.
- salt - to taste
Instructions
Procedure:
- For Pecan Wood Smoked Pork Belly Honey Lacquered: Prepare rub and apply to pork. Get smoker between 225°-250° and cook rubbed belly until an internal temperature of 200° (Usually around 10 hours). Place in cooler because it will make slicing for the next day easier. To reheat, use a smoking hot skillet or pan for a few seconds on each side.
- For Black Eye Pea Puree: Wash and strain Peas. Sweet shallots in fat until cooked, deglaze with Jack. Add vegetable stock. Add peas, bay leaf, pork scraps, thyme and garlic. Simmer until tender. Strain beans then pour on sheet pan, reserving liquid. Pick out pork, thyme and bay leaf. Add peas to vita mix with ¼ of liquid and puree. Add more liquid for the right consistency. Taste for salt and may need a little hot sauce.
- For Butternut Squash Fluid Gel: Cryovac carrot juice, butternut, and allspice and sous vide at 85°C until tender. Add agar to mixture and puree in vita prep until silky smooth. Place on stove and boil for exactly 3 min. Remove and place in pan and refrigerate. Remove gel pieces and add back into vita prep and puree if need be add a touch of carrot juice. Push through a tamis and place in bottle.
