This is a request by Carolyn Keiper. I got the basic recipe from the net and after some experiment, I finally came out with this recipe which is really yummie if I can say so myself. The best Bacon I ever had ☺ ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) Ingredients Pork Belly - 2kg Coarse sea or rock salt - 170gm Brown Sugar - 330gm Bay Leaves - 5~10 pieces Black Pepper - 25gm Honey - 4 tablespoon Method Clean the pork belly, pat dry it with a cloth or tissue and place it in the fridge for 24hrs to dry. Best to get fresh pork belly that is bought early in the morning the day the pig is slaughtered. After 24 hours - first day. Mix the salt and sugar in the ratio of 1:2 by weight. Cut or chop about 5~10 pieces of dried bay leaves into tiny pieces. Add medium coarse ground black pepper into mixture Place the mixture into a plastic bag and shake it to make sure it is properly mixed. Put half of the mixture in a bowl and mix it with the 2 tablespoon honey until the mixture become pasty. The remaining half of the mixture is to be used after 3 days of curing so store it in a dry cool place. Rub and paste the pork belly with all the mixture in the bowl making sure that every inch of it is covered. Place the pork belly in a plastic bag and remove as much of the air as possible and seal the opening with a rubber band. Return the pork belly into the fridge to cure. Turn the pork belly daily and massage it a little. Note: There will be gathering (liquid) inside the plastic bag showing that the pork belly is curing. After 3 days Put the remaining mixture in a bowl and mix it with another 2 tablespoon of honey until the mixture become pasty. Drain the liquid and repack the pork belly with the remaining curing mixture. Reseal the plastic bag and turn the pork belly with light massage daily. After 6 days Drain the fluid and rinse the pork belly which is bacon by now with running water and wash off all remaining curing mixture from it. Slice a small piece and fry it to taste. If it is too salty, soak if for an hour or so changing the water about 20 to 30 minutes until saltiness is acceptable. Remove the skin and slice the bacon according to the thickness you like. It is easier to slice it when the bacon is semi frozen. Freeze it for storage. Enjoy the real bacon with eggs sunny side up. Yummie!! Note: 1kg of meat = 250gm of cure. You can play around with the sugar to salt ratio to suit your taste. If 2 tablespoons of honey is not enough to make the mixture pasty, just add more.
KK, I'm going to give it a shot! A friend of ours is going feral hog hunting this weekend, and if he gets one, I get the pork belly. I've got all the other ingredients on hand. Thanks for the recipe, and the instructions. This may be the best bacon we've ever had!
THANKS KK. I just might have to go to the butcher. This sounds doable to me. I always like to try new recipes. But it probably won't be until fall. My summers are too busy outside, in the greenhouse and at the farmers markets.
I knew I shouldn't have read this until AFTER I had breakfast. Think I'm just going to have to have a couple extra slices of bacon now! :-D
You are welcome Marlingardener, keeping my fingers crossed that the pork belly would be curing in your fridge soon. You are welcome Carolyn, that seems a long time to wait. Mine would be ready for slicing this Monday ....if I can I would send you some! Cherylad , I feel like having a couple of slices right now myself just talking about it!!! ..... my bed time is like just about an hour away!! Anyone want to join me? :-D
