We know you can’t resist a few rashers of crispy bacon, a sweet, marinaded pork chop fresh off the braai, or a rack of tender and sticky ribs. But there’s so much more to enjoying the versatility of pork than just the cuts you’ll commonly see in supermarkets.
So-called “snout to tail” eating is a food trend that emerged somewhere around 2018, encompassing a philosophy that uses every part of the animal in food preparation and letting nothing go to waste.
And in the age of more aware consumers, global warming, animal welfare and responsible management of the food chain, it’s become much more than a fad – it’s a way of being more economical with your grocery bill, more adventurous with your menu, and more environmentally considerate of the resources that go into producing every kilo of meat on our farms.
Ready to dip your snout in? Here are a few interesting pork cuts you may not have tried yet, but that would be a perfect springboard into a whole new world of delicious pork dishes!
Belly
Pork belly is essentially the part that is salt-cured and thinly sliced to make bacon. It features rich fat marbling as well as a layer of fat at the surface and is completely boneless, making it a decadent and tasty cut for cooking methods such as slow roasting. The skin on the outside of this cut is relatively tough but softens beautifully under slow heat, or it can be crisped up for delicious cracking under a fiercely hot grill. Try it paired with the classic accompaniments of apple and fennel in our foolproof pork belly recipe from the OINK! cookbook.
Liver
A great place to start in your exploration of pork offal, pork liver is affordable, rich in flavour and extremely nutritious. It’s high in iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin B and copper, helping reduce your risk of nutritional deficiency. The delicious pork liver “Skilpadjies” in the OINK! cookbook is made of minced liver and wrapped in caul fat (or net vet as commonly known) before cooking – another unusual ingredient that adds flavour and keeps these meatballs moist and juicy. Try them with your family for an easy weekday meal that packs a punch of flavour – and makes an incredible sandwich the next day!
Hock
Hock is cut from the bottom half of the pork leg and is typically cured with salt and smoked for a bacon-like flavour. It’s a full-house of flavours and textures – including bone, meat, collagen, connective tissue, fat, and skin. All these add up to amazing pork flavour when hock is added to soups and stews. Combine hock with flavour-packed trotters for an incredibly delicious and affordable meal in the form of Emma’s Hock and Trotter Pot. Developed by renowned restauranteur, Emma Chen, you’ll be amazed how well hock and trotters play with fragrant Asian flavours. You’ll find the full recipe in our OINK! cookbook.
With all your family’s favourites as well as many of these more exotic cuts available at the LYNCA FACTORY SHOP, why not drop by and be inspired by the wide range and exceptional quality of LYNCA pork? Pick up a copy of the OINK! cookbook while you’re there and you’ll never be short of delicious ideas to bring to the table!
