RICHARD H. TURNER'S SMOKED BELLY, PICKLED APPLE & SAUSAGE HASH

The decision making process for the one was easy.

Everyday, after setting up our fine looking counter over at Gladwells, it is not unusual to go and peruse around the rest of the shop - because there is always something different and quirky popping up on the shelves over at SE5.

Eyes may well be trained on a certain section but when we spotted that some bottles of Pom Cider had arrived, made by cider-makers, James and Becky (who are also based in Camberwell) the sudden desire to taste, gulp and cogitate was strong. 

A bottle was taken home and sampled, and was found to be deliciously dry, lightly effervescent, with soft tannins, and a good thwack of acidity. 

After further rumination, it was then decided that the cider would go rather well with pork, and in particular, Richard H. Turner’s Smoked Belly, Pickled Apple & Sausage Hash from HOG.

Further testing and tasting commenced and indeed, the underlying astringency of the cider really did go well with smoked fatty pork. It also worked bloody well with the pickled slivers of Granny Smiths, crispy morsels of sausage and fluffy potato cubes, slightly crumbled and doused in more cider.

So, there you go. We have done a lot of heavy lifting here to make your decision process even easier and for that, you can thank us later.

If you can’t get hold of Pom Cider though, do make sure you get something of a similar, decent quality in. 

Whatever you do, don’t get any Wrongbow in. That would be a BAD decision.

Ingredients - serves 4

1kg thick and boneless Pork Belly, skin removed and turned into crackling

1tbs French’s or Dijon mustard

100g Spicy Pig Rub

300g banana shallot, peeled and halved lengthways

500ml Master Pork Broth

6 Breakfast Pigs, skinned and broken into chunks

500g cooked potatoes

250ml Pom Cider or any other dry cider

For the pickled apple

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored

200ml good cider vinegar

100ml water

50g caster sugar

10 Maldon sea salt flakes

2 cloves

Method

First make the pickled apple. Peel the apples and shave on a mandolin to form ribbons or slice very finely and place into a plastic container.

Put the remaining pickle ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, allow to cool, then pour over the shaved apple and refrigerate. The pickled apple will be ready in a few hours and will keep for about a week. Remove the cloves before serving.

Remove the skin from the pork belly. Evenly score the fat on the belly in a cross-hatch, then rub the belly with the mustard and cover with the pork rub.

Prepare your smoker or barbecue and set to 110°C or preheat the oven. Place the shallots in a small baking tray and add the belly, fat side up. Add the pork broth to the baking tray and cook in the smoker for 6 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 89°C.

Remove the belly set aside. Separate the rendered fat from the broth and reserve the juices.

Put the shallots and the rendered fat into a nonstick frying pan with the sausage chunks and cooked potatoes and fry slowly over a low heat, tossing regularly and allowing crispy golden bits to form. A little splash of cider at this point would not be a bad idea.

In a separate pan, add the reserved cooking juices and cider and reduce by half to create a sauce.

Slice or pull apart the pork belly and serve with the sausage hash, sauce, crackling, pickled apple and some more cider to wash down with.