Sharmila on Food

Making bacon

Bacon with chinese flavourings, in fact.  I have cured my own bacon before, and very nice it was too.  The only issue being I didn’t use any saltpetre.  At the time, I wasn’t bothered about the fact that its absence meant my bacon wasn’t an attractive pinky colour.  However, the more I’ve read, the more I’ve realised that that handy kitchen explosive can also guard against botchulism. Oh well, not dead yet!

Anyone who has eaten good Chinese food may have encountered the wonderfully savoury, intensely flavoured bacon that you get in a lot of dishes.  I had read a lot about this in Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop, as well as encountering some of the most amazing cured bacon in the dishes I ate in Hunan (which it appears, is renowned for its bacon).  I really wanted to make my own.  It’s supremely easy, as long as you can be a bit prepared.  The smoking may prove a bit more daunting.  As I now have a hot smoker, this is very easy.  You could try the wok method that Dunlop advocates.  After my doomed forays in wok smoking, I can’t safely say, I wouldn’t.

Dunlop states to hang the bacon to dry (after it’s dry curing) in a well ventilated area, such as by a north facing window.  I chickened out of hanging bits of meat in the kitchen (my cats would have gone mental for a start), and instead wrapped it loosely in muslin and hung it off my pan rack located near my window.  It didn’t appear to do any harm.

The end result has been fantastic.  Thus far, I’ve used the bacon very simple - once in a dish of stir fried cabbage with some ginger, garlic, chilli and soy.  The other dish was a home style beancurd.  In both instances, the bacon imparted a wonderful flavour - subtly sweet from the Shaoxing wine, but with a nice punch.  Surprisingly, the pieces were also not too salty.

As with any form of cured meat, you get out what you put in.  Which means, try to get the best quality pork belly you can find.  It will make a difference.  It really will.

The recipe below is for much larger quantities than I cured.  Use you common sense and reduce your proportions of cure according to the weight of your pork belly.  This is of particular importance when it comes to the saltpetre (which can be bought here), as you really don’t want to put too much in, as I don’t think that is very good for you.

Home-made bacon with Sichuanese flavourings - taken from Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop

3kg belly pork, skin on

For the salt cure:

3 cloves

few pieces of cassia bark

3 star anise

1/2tsp saltpetre

2tbsp Shaoxing wine

30g soft brown sugar

2tbsp whole Sichuan pepper

150g salt

For smoking with a wok:

100g plain flour

100g sugar

50g pine needles, cypress shavings or peanut husks

For using a hot smoker:

A good amount of wood chips to cover the bottom of the smoker (I think I used something oak based)

1. Cut the pork belly into 5cm wide strips. Crush the cloves, cassia bark and star anise in a pestle and mortar. Dissolve the saltpetre in the Shaoxing wine.

2. Rub the cure ingredients all over the pork.  Take a bit of time over this to really work the cure into the meat. Put the strips in a large pot or tupperware container. Then cover and place in the fridge for a week, turning once after 3-4 days.

3. After a week, remove the strips, pierce with a meat hook and hang in a cool, well ventilated place for several hours.  Or, like me, wrap loosely in muslin and hang somewhere well ventilated for a bit longer (I did this overnight).

4. When the bacon is dry, start the smoking.  If using the wok method, line the wok with a double thickness of foil. Mix the flour and sugar together in the centre of the wok, and scatter over the pine leaves or whatever you are using. Place a metal rack over the smoking materials (ideally 10cm above).  Place the strips of bacon on the rack. Put the wok on a very high flame until lots of dark smoke is being generated.  Cover with a wok-lid, turn down to medium heat and smoke for 15-30 mins until the strips have a rich yellowish colour.  Make sure to turn halfway through.  If using a hot smoker, follow your normal instructions.  This was smoked for 15-20 mins, as we also had a smaller quantity.

5. And that’s it.  You can store until you want to use it.  I wrapped mine in greaseproof paper, as was worried plastic wrap would make it wet.