Pickled pork, parsley dumplings and pineapple pickle

Tam West

This tongue-twisting dish uses pork that has been brined to add flavour and moisture, similar to corned beef. It needs to be cooked slowly so ideally suits “slow and low”. It has no bones so it is easy to carve. Quite often when cooking pickled pork the poaching liquor turns cloudy and a lot of foam and impurities bubble to the surface. This is mainly due to the brine. To avoid this and lessen the saltiness of the meat, rinse the pork in a pot with cold running water, then cover with water, bring it to the boil and discard the water (this technique is known as blanching).

For the pork

1 kg	Pickled pork (Main)
1	Small onion, peeled and sliced in half
2 whole	Cloves
2	Star anise
1	Cinnamon stick
4 slices	Fresh ginger
1 cup	Pineapple juice

For the parsley dumplings

125 g	Plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp	Baking powder
60 g	Beef suet
1 Tbsp	Chopped parsley
2 tsp	Dijon mustard

For the pineapple pickle

100 ml	White wine vinegar
80 ml	Water
40 g	Sugar
¼ tsp	Black peppercorns
½ tsp	Coriander seeds
½ tsp	Mustard seeds
½	Pineapples, fresh, peeled and diced (Main)

Directions

To make the pork

1. Place washed and blanched pork into a pot. Stud the onion with the cloves and place in the pot with star anise, cinnamon, ginger and juice. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil.
2. Turn down to low and simmer gently for 3 hours (or cook in the crock pot on low for 5-8 hours). Skim off any foam that builds up during the cooking and carefully turn the pork half way through.
3. Lift the pork out, set aside and cover.
4. Bring the cooking liquor to the boil then add the dumplings (see below) and simmer for 20 minutes. They should double in size and be very light and fluffy looking.
5. Serve pork with hot poaching liquor, parsley dumplings and pineapple pickle on the side.

To make the parsley dumplings

1. In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, suet, parsley, mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Stir in half a cup of cold water until a sticky dough begins to form.
3. Divide the dough into 8, roll into balls with floured hands and set aside.

To make the pineapple pickle

Bring all the pickle ingredients to the boil, add the pineapple, gently mix then turn off. Allow to cool then transfer to a bowl and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

More slow-cooked meals from Geoff

• Beef, red wine and mushroom stew
• Chicken, sausage and white bean casserole