Recipes, Pork Recipes

Stout & ginger lacquered smoked pork cheek bun

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Makes 4 buns

Ingredients

Method

  1. In a medium-sized deep saucepan, dry fry the coriander seeds, swirling them often until their nutty orange smell comes to the nose.
  2. Fill the pan with cold water and lower in the smoked cheeks, followed by the celery and onion.
  3. Bring to a simmer and cook with the lid on for 3-4 hours, topping up the water when necessary.
  4. When done, a small sharp knife should slide into it with only the faintest resistance. When cooled, cut the rind from the cheeks while leaving the fat on. Discard the rind, chop it into minuscule pieces, and leave it on the bird table.
  5. While the cheeks cook, add all the ingredients for the glaze into a smallish saucepan.
  6. Bring to a simmer, reduce just over halfway, and cool.
  7. In a suitable small container, mix the cheeks with all the glaze and leave in the fridge overnight or otherwise a minimum of four hours.
  8. Light the barbecue and place the cheeks over the glowing embers.
  9. Remove the ginger unless super finely sliced, and I let it stick onto the cheek.
  10. Paint the upper sides while the undersides cook.
  11. Flip and repeat until all the sauce has gone and a thick, shiny semi crispy lacquer has been built up.
  12. Slice and pack in a bun of choice. I like a rye one with fresh watercress, sauerkraut mixed with mustard and mayonnaise, and last but not least, your sliced pickled walnuts.
  13. It is also delicious sliced and served straight onto bread sauce with an accompanying watercress salad.
  14. Eat alongside a good glass of cold stout.

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Valentine Warner is a chef, food writer, business owner and broadcaster, with a deep interest in nature, travel and provincial food. He describes his cooking style as ‘International Grandmother’ and combines his strong sense of storytelling with his infectious love of cookery. Val has a deep respect and understanding of ingredients, both wild and cultivated, and has the instinctive ability to rustle up hearty and wholesome meals from whatever’s available. Val is an avid proponent of native food sources, and finds common ground with Swaledale in their work to deliver top-notch meat, within a truthful, ethical and high welfare framework. Originally a trained portrait painter, Val has also authored 5 cookbooks, managed his own catering company and is a co-owner of Taqueria, a West London Mexican cafe. Val is also a partner in the Hepple Distillery in Northumberland and Holmen Lofoten hotel on arctic Norway’s Lofoten island.