On Christmas eve I prefer to have pork roast with crackling. It’s very suitable for people on a sugar free diet because it is pure protein and fat and there is no need to coat the pork with a sugary marinade.
It can however be somewhat complicated to cook the roast so that the meat is jucy and the fat is crispy and crackling. This year I slow roasted the pork while we went to church for a Christmas mass performed by my mother.
I read through a heap of recipes online but in the end I came up with my own adjustment. I cooked some root vegetables in the oven at 190°C for 50 minutes before cooking the pork. I also fried some mushrooms and carrots in butter.
Pork roast with crackling:
- 2,5-3kg shoulder of pork (with bone)
- Cloves
- Bay leaves
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Mixed herbs spice that goes well with pork. I buy a mixed herb spice from a company in Iceland called Pottagaldrar and my favourite blend is the “Best for everything” herb blend. It contains sea salt, black pepper, white pepper, paprika, coriander, onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, celeriac seeds, rosemary, parsley, mint and thyme.
Ask your butcher to cut into the fat so prepare the crackling. If that is not possible you can cut it yourself during the cooking.
First I placed the pork shoulder in a oven pot with fat facing down and then I poured lukewarm water into the pot so that it reaches up to about 2-3 cm of the pork. I placed the pot with the lid on into the oven at 200°C and set the timer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes take the pot out of the oven and transfer the pork to a cutting board with the fat facing up. Now is the time to cut streaks into the pork if that has not already been done. You need a sharp knife and the streaks should be ca. 2 cm apart. Next rub sea salt into the streaks and season the pork with all the spices. Place cloves and bay leaves into the cuts on the fat here and there.
Pour most of the liquid out of the pot and place the pork back into the pot. I recommend having ca. 1-2 dl of water left in the pot to maintain moisture during the cooking. The pork is cooked for 3 hours minimum on 150°C in a fan oven.
After three hours I took the lid of the pot and turned on the grill setting on the oven to grill the fat and make the crackling. It only takes a few minutes to grill the crackling and you need to be careful not to burn it.
The sauce:
Use the liquid produced during cooking the steak. You can add a little bit of full fat milk or low fat cream if you want a creamier taste and also season with salt and pepper to taste.
