Hoisin Braised Pig Cheeks
Hoisin Braised Pig Cheeks was a long time coming. Several years ago, I started developing a Pig’s Cheek recipe; I wanted it to be aromatic and have deep, rich flavours. My Head Chef at the time and I created an elaborate recipe using reduced beef stock, star anise, and all kinds of gorgeous ingredients. The only problem was, the recipe took forever to prepare and was very complicated. When I started going through and editing the enormous amount of recipes I had created over the years, I decided the recipe was just too long and complicated- surely there was an easier way.
One afternoon, I was randomly googling and printed off the Hoisin Braised Pig’s Cheek recipe I have included here. Months later, I found it paper clipped to the long, complicated version and decided to try it. WOW! No need to change anything; I think it is so tasty and so easy. The printed recipe does not tell me where it came from, so unfortunately, I am unable to share who is the original author of this recipe. I’ve paired this with Superfoods; spinach and toasted sesame seeds.
If you are unfamiliar with Pig’s Cheeks, this website offers a comprehensive overview of this particular cut of meat.
Since Pig’s Cheeks are often underused, you may need to get these from your butcher [although in France where I’m living, they are easily available at the grocery store]. Due to the fat content, which dissolves away during the cooking process, they shrink quite a bit so bear this in mind when purchasing; 2–3 pieces per person is a good main portion size.
Pig’s Cheeks are an underrated and underused ingredient- especially in America. Pig’s cheeks, are the little round pieces of meat found in the cheek of the pig. They are an inexpensive cut of meat and are very versatile; they almost always want to be slow cooked, as they are meaty parcels with marbled fat, which make them fall-off-the-fork tender once slow cooked, and this recipe for Hoisin Braised Pig’s Cheeks are no exception. They are melt in the mouth fanstastic!
Hoisin Braised Pig Cheeks
Equipment
- 1 Digital scales
- 1 Heavy duty flameproof casserole dish
Ingredients
- 4-6 Pig cheeks, depending on what your butcher has available trimmed of fat and sinew
- 1 - 2 Tablespoon Rapeseed Oil or other good quality vegetable oil
- 150 ml Orange juice approx 1/2 cup
- 2 Large Spring Onion
MARINADE
- 100 ml Hoisin Sauce Note 1
- 50 ml Dark Soya Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Clear Honey I used cream honey and warmed it so it would be "runny"
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Chinese Black Rice Vinegar Note 2
- 1 Large Knob of ginger, peeled and grated 8-10 grams [ about 1 Tablespoon]
- 1 Large Clove of garlic, peeled and grated
- ¼ teaspoon Dried Red Chilli's seeds removed You can use 1 fresh chilli, seeds removed and flesh chopped finely
- 2 teaspoon Chinese Five-spice powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Szechuan pepper if you can't find this use ground black pepper
- 1 Handful Sesame Seeds, toasted
Instructions
- Gather and weigh your ingredients
- Add all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the pig cheeks and turn to coat evenly. Place a lid or clingfilm over the top and pop in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours and ideally overnight.
- Heat the oven to 150c [300 fahrenheit]. Remove the cheeks from the marinade and scrape off any excess back into the bowl.
- Place the casserole dish over medium/medium high heat and add enough of the oil to cover the bottom. Add the pig cheeks and brown them quickly- the marinade will cause them to brown, so take care they don't burn.
- Pour in the orange juice and the reserved marinade. Add enough water to cover the cheeks, and put on a tight-fitting lid.
- Pop into the oven for 2 - 2.5 hours until the meat is really tender [check after 2 hours]
- Remove the pot from the oven and carefully lift out the pig cheeks and set aside. Put the pot back on the burner on medium heat and allow the sauce to reduce, uncovered until it turns a bit thick and sticky
- Place the cheeks onto the plate and spoon over the sauce
- Slice the spring onions including the green bits and sprinkle over the pig cheeks along with the toasted sesame seeds
- Serve with steamed basmati rice and sauteed spinach OR Chinese Cabbage or Bok Choi
Notes
- 170 grams [3/4 cup] tinned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp. molasses
- 3 tbsp. teriyaki sauce
- 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar [I also didn't have red wine vinegar and used 1 tablespoon each of a dry red wine (Merlot) and organic cidre vinegar
- 2 tsp. Chinese five spice powder
