What to do with pork belly trimmings?

October 24, 2022 6:01 AM

I made niku jaga this weekend, a Japanese pork and potato and shirataki noodle stew. The recipe called for thinly-sliced, skinless, boneless pork belly, cut into bite-sized pieces. To save money, I bought skin-on pork belly on the bone and trimmed it at home. Now I have about a pound (1/2 kilo) of raw pork skin and bone and fatty bits with tiny scraps of meat in my fridge. What can I make with these pork belly trimmings? Just broth, or something more interesting?
posted by dywypi to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

The skin can be used to make pork scratchings or chicharrones. I would make stock from the bones to use with ramen. Pork fat is a useful ingredient if you ever make paté or sausages. Or you could render the fatty bits down to make lard, which is wonderful in savoury pie crusts etc., and can also be used for frying. Half a kilo isn't a lot to work with, though.
posted by pipeski at 6:26 AM on October 24, 2022 [5 favorites]

Given that you have a relatively small amount of mixed components, I would make crackling from the skin (medium heat in an oven; the bits of fat attached to the skin should be enough fat) and make broth from everything else. Leave the strained broth to cool in the fridge; the next day remove the solidified lard off the top, and heat it to evaporate the residual moisture if you won't be using it immediately.

There are also recipes for making soft, gelatinous pork skin (rather than crunchy pork skin), if that floats your boat. You could add it to the broth, if that's the texture you want.

But I agree that this is not a lot of raw broth material. If you don't want to mess around with such a small amount of stuff, you can freeze it and wait until you have more scraps from meat on the bone. It doesn't have to be more pork -- you can make broth out of multiple different kinds of meat. Your butcher may also sell inexpensive soup bones, pork trotters, etc., which you can get especially for this.
posted by confluency at 9:00 AM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]

+1 on lard. Cut it all into bits no larger than 1" square, toss it in a pot with a lid, add a bit of water so that all the pieces start warming up to release their fat, then put on med-low heat for a couple hours until it all stops sizzling. The water evaporates leaving liquid gold. Strain out whatever doesn't render and keep in your fridge until you need delicious lard.
posted by hwyengr at 10:17 AM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've heard people in France add a piece of pork skin to the pot when they are making braised dishes. It increases the amount of gelatin in the braising liquid, which improves the mouthfeel.
posted by Lycaste at 10:42 AM on October 24, 2022 [2 favorites]

I once had wild mushrooms simmered in a pork bone broth with cracklings on top that had been seasoned with powdered dried mushrooms and garlic. It was part of a nose to tail locally sourced menu dealie and was the standout dish imo. The broth was subtly spiced with warm flavors like nutmeg and star anise but only a tiny bit; I bet some Chinese five spice would work quite well.
posted by Mizu at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2022 [1 favorite]