The first, a restaurant in Soho…
…and a Marx film (the brothers, not the German philosopher)
…whilst — continuing the vaguely political theme — we have here, a döner shop called The Communist, run by Turkish man Yasar Armagan Ipek, in Deptford...
…a part of London which is only 50 minutes train-ride away from Dartford where Keith & Mick met…
And that (admittedly rather fragile) causal chain, leads me finally to the Ducksoup (restaurant, not film) recipe for belly pork with rhubarb. The latter is coming through now in the allotment and it certainly looks rather more appetising than the Stones’ pottage. I mean, at least shave the goat first, guys, come on!
First, prep the pickled rhubarb:
Ingredients:
250g caster sugar
250ml cider vinegar
100ml water
4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 star anise
Pinch of red chilli flakes
500g early-forced rhubarb, cut into 5cm pieces
Put the sugar, vinegar, water and spices in a pan and bring to a gentle simmer, then cook for about 5 minutes. Drop the rhubarb pieces into the pan in batches and cook for 30-45 seconds, or until you see the rhubarb change to a much paler colour. Remove immediately with a slotted spoon and allow to cool flat on a baking tray. Repeat this process until all the rhubarb is cooked. Allow the liquor to cool and then poor over the rhubarb. If you pour it over while it is still hot you will overcook the rhubarb.
You can store the rhubarb in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of weeks or simply move onto use it in the dish…
SERVES 4
120g pickled rhubarb
1.5kg pork belly (remove the bones in on-the-bone but keep them)
Salt
Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7. Use a very sharp knife to score though the skin of the pork belly. The way we do this is to score where we want the portion slices to be, so if you’re making dinner for four then score eight sections, so that you have two pieces each. This will make it much easier to cut through once the pork is cooked as you won’t have to cut through that lovely, crackled pork skin.
Season the flesh side of the pork belly with salt and rest it on a rack on a roasting tray. Alternatively you can rest the pork belly on the bones you removed – either way you want to protect the meat from the intense heat coming of the base of the tray, which will make the edges dry. Season the skin side of the pork with salt, rubbing it well into the skin. Leave the pork belly for 30 minutes; this will draw some liquid from the skin, helping to make it crispier. Place the pork belly in the oven and roast for 15 minutes, or until the skin starts to crackle. Then reduce the oven to 160°C/gas 3 and cook for a further hour, or until the meat is tender and the skin is crispy. Remove from the oven and allow to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
To serve, slice the pork following your pre-scored lines. Place two pieces on each plate, overlapping slightly. Spoon the pickled rhubarb on and around the belly and pour over a little of the pickling liquor.