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Recipe: Coconut Curry-braised Pork Side

While I was grocery shopping this week, I was perusing the different pork cuts at Calgary Co-op and came across something labeled ‘pork side’. Although it looked somewhat similar to bacon, I wasn’t 100% sure what it was. Since I’m always looking to familiarize myself with various types of meat, I decided to pick up a few packages to experiment with at home.

Turns out, my thoughts were fairly correct, pork side is basically un-smoked bacon. I decided the best way to cook it was to put some time into it a la braising. The results were quite delicious. It’s not the prettiest cut of pork, but delicious (and inexpensive!) nonetheless. Here we go…

What you’ll need…

1 tbsp canola oil

1 pound sliced pork side

4 cups coconut milk

2 cups crushed tomatoes

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp Thai red curry paste

1 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3 red potatoes (1/2″ cubed)

1 yellow onion (diced)

2 green onions (thinly sliced, for garnish)

Directions:

Heat canola oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Once hot, work in batches to brown the pork side on both sides. Place onto paper towel to absorb any excess grease. Let cool slightly and then chop into approximately 1″ pieces.

Place the next 9 ingredients into a large, deep pan and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add the potatoes, onion and browned pork side to the pan. Reduce to low heat, cover and let slow cook on the stove for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

After 2 hours, season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm until ready to serve. Ladle out on top of couscous or jasmine rice and top with sliced green onions.

Serves 3-4

Total cook time…2 hours, 15 minutes