After last week’s go at poaching eggs, I got thinking that there are certain dishes that never really go out of style. They remain classics. And it’s often these “classics” that can give me the most headaches! So I decided I would go on a mission to “blog the classics”. I’ll be featuring recipes every now and then that challenge me to get back to my cooking roots. First up on the block is roast pork. Whilst it’s quite simple to cook up a slab of meat, roast pork is one that has caused me many issues in the kitchen. And it mainly has to do with the crackling. I can never get it “crackly” enough. My first attempt a few years ago, ended with some of my dinner party guests to kindly spit out their roast into a napkin and smile kindly! I kid you not. Lesson learned. Practice before you attempt something that may seem “easy”.
Whilst scanning the aisles of the supermarket a few weeks ago, I picked up a whole bunch of winter root vegetables. Namely baby dutch carrots and parsnips. I then noticed they had organic pork for sale at quite a decent price. I picked up a whole loin of pork that weighed approximately 1.5 kilograms and it had a wonderful layer of fat. My mind went into overdrive, and visions of beautiful moist roast pork came into view with a lovely layer of crackling. One that people would “oooh” and “aaah” over once it arrived at the dinner table.
This time I was armed with information from “The Better basics” cooking magazine. It’s produced by the “Better Homes and Gardens” crew and the recipes are provided by their resident chef “Fast Ed”. There’s a lot of classics in this magazine and great tips and advice. I zoomed straight into the roast pork and proceeded to follow Ed’s advice on producing the perfect roast pork with beautiful crackling. His main tip was to pour boiling water over the skin of the pork and then ensure it is completely dry and every inch of moisture removed. He even goes on to say that you should use a hairdryer to remove any last traces of liquid! Having not owned a hairdryer for many years I used some paper towels to remove all the last bits of moisture. And then the secret lies in rubbing it with oil and lots of sea salt flakes ensuring the salt is rubbed into the scored skin. Overall I was pleased with the result but I still think that the skin could have been a bit more crackly in certain places! I think my “scoring” technique was not very good. I dare say I will get this right and I will keep on practicing it! The pork was moist and tender though. I filled the insides with a combination of fresh rosemary, parsley, lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper.
(Adapted from the “Better Basics” cooking magazine-with “Fast Ed”
- 1.5-2 kg boneless pork loin
- 4 litres of boiling water
- a small bunch of rosemary and parsley finely chopped
- the zest of one lemon
- 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- sea salt flakes
- Vegetables to serve-potatoes, parsnips, carrots
- Preheat the oven to 130 deg C. Lay the pork loin skin side up and flat on a chopping board and proceed to score the skin in a crisscross pattern about 1 cm apart.
- Proceed to pour the boiling water over the scored skin and wipe down with some kitchen paper towels.
- Turn the pork over and rub it with your desired herb mixture. Roll it up tightly and secure it with butcher’s twine.
- At this point use a hairdryer to remove any excess moisture. Rub the whole loin generously with the vegetable oil and then season with sea salt flakes, ensuring every crevice of scored fat gets a look in!
- Cook the loin over a wire rack on a shallow oven tray for 1 1/2 hours
- Remove the pork from the oven, increase the oven temp to 230 deg C and then bake the pork for a further 30-40 mins.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and cover in foil loosely and allow it to rest for a good 5-10 mins. Remove the twine and carve away!
You might also like:
Print This Delicious Post
Hi! I'm Peter. Welcome to Souvlaki For The Soul. My "little" space on the web. My blog is choc full of recipes, travel stories and photos. Have a good look around and enjoy your time here. Cheers!
{ 22 comments }
pork crackling looks really good. i like the sound of the recipe technique.
Well you might not think the pork was crackling enough but judging by that first gorgeous photo I would say it is! I have this love/hate relationship with pork as it does tend to come out too dry on a lot of occassions. I love this recipe though and it makes me want to have a taste of that right now!
roast pork! How come I am not invited!? I usually use rock salt, it gives better crackling and can just brush it away once done, so the crackling don’t get too salty. hmmmm feel like some roast pork now…
This looks so good Peter! I think there is no doubt you nailed it this time!
Lovely photos as usual! Even though I say it every time…I can’t help but comment on them!
this kind of dish makes me look forward to cooler days, which have just lately interrupted our warm greek summers
The classics, when executed properly, are the last meals of every great chef. It’s funny to think that dishes our grandmas could make in their sleep should elude us so, but once we get these ones nailed down, we will always have something wonderful for dinner.
Oh, that looks so good and comforting!
Cheers,
Rosa
Thanks for the good laugh re not owning a hair dryer! I can’t see the third photo for some reason but the dinner overall looks very nice; however, my experience with cooking pork roasts (Latin style – it’s really big in that culture) is to score crosswise. While your recipe mentions scoring crosswise, I don’t see it. I’ve never heard of pouring water over the roast. Also I think if you want crispy, you need to expose it to the heat without cover. All that said, I would not gratefully accept a plate!
What wonderful tips for making a pork roast Peter. This dish looks amazing of course!!!
OMG Peter, I am salivating!!
I’m in Istanbul now and there’s lamb in different forms everywhere – but I’d give my right arm to get a bit of your crispy pork crackling
That looks absolutely luscious Peter! In fact it stood out when I saw it on foodgawker and my eyes zeroed in right in on it. You’re right, classics never go out of style and there’s always a place in one’s heart for them
This looks absolutely amazing, Peter. YUM! At first glance I thought there was a layer of bacon around the pork.
Looking forward to you blogging more classics!
Wow, that looks luscious! Is the “skin” actual skin or is it that fat layer that I see on the pork loins I get here in the US?
The roast look tender. It’s funny, I made roast beef roast the other day, similar rolled like this pork. Enjoy the feast, P
)))
Mmmmm that looks delightful Peter. I’ve never tried the boiling water technique on pork, but I use it with duck and it works pretty well there. Will have to try it with pork. What I usually do with pork is to hit it with really high heat just before taking it out, the problem with this technique is that only the part closest to the heating element gets really crisp.
Simple gorgeous Peter. I love good old fashioned food. I went out for dinner the other night and was served some lemongrass foam — I just thought to myself — why am I paying so much for these bubbles that dissolve into nothing. I’d take your roast pork any day. Great looking crackling.
Yum! How good does that look? Especially with the roasted root vegetables.
Roast meats is something that I have never done myself. I used to help my mom when I was a kid, but if I tried today I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I’ll bookmark the recipe to be used this upcoming winter.
Oh such gloriousness! Looks like you did a fantastic job and lol at the hairdryer observation!!!
I know how you feel about pork. I love it and it is so difficult to get the crackling right. I think it also has to do with the oven. If you have an oven with a fan this when roasting next time, it does dry things out nicely and you won’t have to own a hairdryer!
Great looking roast!! Looks super delicious and amazing photo’s!!
Hi Peter, stumbled across your blog today for the first time while looking for an orange cake recipe. What beautiful pictures and a delight to read. May I humbly suggest a method that has always worked for me to make the best crackling. Yes, skin has to be dry, then you score the rind but not down through to the meat obviously or you will get meat juice moistening your skin. Then rub salt into the scored skin ‘As if into the face of your worst enemy’ to quote Fanny Craddock, Then you roast it with no oil on rind at all, until the last half an hour when you baste. This has always worked for me
Comments on this entry are closed.