Every couple of months we get a whole pig in to break down for our charcuterie,” says Brianna Smith of Adelaide Hills’ The Summertown Aristologist. “As well as saucisson, lardo, pancetta, capocollo and other salumi, we make scratchings from the skin, terrine from the head and broth from the bones. This dish came about on one of those occasions where we found ourselves with pork broth on hand. The rich broth simply paired with the charred broccoli was something that made us happy, so here it is, draped with our house-made lardo.”
Ingredients
Furikake
Pork broth
Method
1.For pork broth, add bones to a stockpot, cover completely with water (about 4 litres), bring to the boil, cover with a lid and blanch (5 minutes). Strain, reserving bones and discarding liquid, then scrub bones, if needed, to remove impurities.
2.Return bones to clean stockpot, cover with water and bring to a simmer over low-medium heat. Simmer until stock is well-flavoured, skimming scum from surface regularly and topping up with water as necessary to ensure bones stay covered (5 hours). Add onion, sliced ginger, garlic and peppercorns, and simmer (1 hour), then strain, discarding solids. Return broth to stockpot and continue to simmer over medium heat until reduced by half (40 minutes to 1 hour).
3.Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook chopped ginger until softened and fragrant but not colouring (3-5 minutes). Deglaze pan with Shaoxing, add broth and simmer to infuse (20 minutes). Add soy sauce then strain through a fine sieve.
4.Meanwhile, cook broccoli in a steamer (or blanch) until tender (3 minutes), then chill.
5.For furikake, lightly crush puffed rice and sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle until coarse crumbs. Add paprika, chilli and ½ tsp salt. Store in an airtight container until required.
6.Preheat oven to 150°C. Heat a char-grill pan over high heat and grill broccoli until lightly charred (6 minutes a side). Transfer to a heatproof serving bowl, top with lardo and heat in oven until soft (1 minute). Pour broth down side of bowl and top with furikake to serve.
Lardo (salted, cured pork back-fat) is available from select delicatessens and butchers; substitute pancetta. Korean chilli powder is available from Asian supermarkets.
Drink suggestion: A skin-contact wine such as Borachio “Hen’s Teeth” from Mt Lofty Ranges. Drink suggestion by Aaron Fenwick.
Mark Roper
