Chef Jimi, Executive Chef of LeVeL33
Over the weekend Chefs Jimi Tegerdine and Tim Butler collaborated to serve up some delicious nosh at LeVeL33. One of the highlights of this unique menu was Chef Jimi’s Confit Ibérico Pork Cheek. I personally had a taste and attest to how delectable this dish is. For now, this dish is not on LeVeL33’s menu, but Chef Jimi has ever so kindly provided us with the recipe so you can try your hand at it.
The dish has several parts to it, including succulent confit pork cheek, slightly sweet onion stout jam, and a 4-minute egg that’s firm on the outside and extremely gooey in the middle. If this hasn’t got your mouth watering yet then nothing will.
Fair warning though, this dish may take some skill to produce (we suggest some practice). But when done right, your dinner date will be in absolute awe.
Ingredients (Serves 2)
Confit pork cheek
Ibérico pork cheek 200g
Duck fat Enough to cover
pork cheek in pan
Hops hollandaise
Egg yolk, 1
Clarified butter, 80g
Hops reduction, 10ml
Hops reduction
Baby shallot, 40g
Garlic, 10g
White wine, 20ml
White balsamic, 100ml
Hops pellets, ½g / 4 pcs
Onion stout jam
Brown onion, 250g
Red onion, 150g
Brown sugar, 100g
Balsamic, 50ml
Stout, 100ml
4 minute egg
Eggs, (room temp) 3
Flour, 100g
Japanese panko breadcrumbs, 100g
Method
1 ) Trim off sinews from pork cheek and pat dry with paper towel.
2 ) Cover pork cheek with duck fat, cover with baking parchment, and place into oven at 140°C for 3-4 hours until fork tender.
3 ) For the onion stout jam: Thinly slice onions and sauté over low heat for 20 minutes until soft and caramelized. Then add the stout, balsamic, and brown sugar. Cook for another hour until texture has a jam consistency. Season to taste.
4 ) For the hops reduction: Rough chop shallots and garlic, and mix it in a hot pan with white wine and white balsamic (or white wine vinegar), reduce by half. Then add the hops pellets until dissolved, fine strain the remaining liquid and set aside.
5 ) For the hollandaise: Bring a pan of water to a slow simmer, then add the hops reduction and egg yolk into a bowl, not touching the water, and whisk until it ribbons (it should take about 1-2 minutes). Remove the bowl from the pan and slowly pour in clarified butter whilst whisking to allow the sauce to bind and thicken. Season to taste.
6 ) For the 4 minute eggs: Drop 2 eggs into a pan of boiling water (drop it so that the shell lightly cracks – as this helps the cooking of the egg, separating the membrane from the shell a little when the water seeps through, making it easier to peel off). Heat the water to medium boil and cook for 4 minutes. Instantly remove the eggs from the water and place them into a bowl of iced water.
7 ) Once the eggs are cold, lightly tap the shell on a hard surface to crack it a little more. Run the eggs under slow flowing water and peel off the shells. Once successfully peeled, pat the eggs dry. Roll it into the flour, whisked egg (the 3rd egg) and breadcrumbs. Set the bread-crumbed eggs aside.
8 ) Place some of the duck fat into a sauté pan and place bread-crumbed eggs into it. Baste the eggs until light brown. Remove eggs from pan and drain excess duck fat. Season lightly.
Plating
1 ) Spoon the hops hollandaise into a bowl.
2 ) Shred the pork cheek and place on top of the hollandaise.
3 ) Place the bread-crumbed egg on top of the pork cheek.
4 ) Top the egg with a spoon of onion stout jam.
5 ) Add a crisp piece of speck (prosciutto or bacon would work too); bake at 170°C for 12 minutes.