Executive chef Ben Batterbury from The Rees Hotel in Queenstown shares his recipe for Free Range Havoc pork shoulder, panfried squid, gilled pineapple and sweet chilli glaze.
Serves 8
Pork Shoulder
1kg flat Pork shoulder boned
Brine (2ltrs water, 180g salt, 20g nitrate salt, 50g brown sugar)
Dissolve the salt and sugar into the water to make the brine and then submerge the shoulder in this for 48hrs. drain and rinse the shoulder and if possible vac pac and cook at 80 0c for 8hrs or place into a covered bake tin and bake at 80 if possible or lowest oven setting. Then drain the meat and leave to cool to be able to handle. Flake the meat by hand, reserving the skin (cut it into thin strips, lay on a baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt and bake at 120 0c until crispy) and the fat. In a food processor blend the fat and add back to the meat, press in a baking paper lined tray (big enough so the meat is about an inch high) then place another tray on top and some weights and leave in the fridge overnight. Next day cut into rectangles.
Sweet chilli glaze
300g tomato
150g white wine vinegar
75g ginger
25g Garlic
50g fish sauce
1 bunch coriander (stalks and all)
1 stick lemongrass
Puree this in a blender and pass through a conical strainer. Place this liquid back into the blender and add
50g red chilli (stalks removed) and blend again.
Place 300g sugar into a heavy bottomed pan and bring to a blond caramel then add the chilli juice and reduce this slowly until it is syrupy. Now add 1ooml of lime juice and boil briefly. Reserve.
Pineapple
peel a pineapple and cut into quarters lengthways. Remove the core. Slice a quarter into ½ cm slices and grill both sides on a chargrill. Whilst still hot place into a sealed plastic tub to soften. You will need 3 slices per person. Reserve.
Squid
4 large squid tubes
½ zest lemon
pinch crushed dried chill
a couple of rubs of ginger on a fine grater
Cut squid into roughly 4x4cm squares and score one side. Mix with marinade and leave in fridge until required.
Vegetables
4 baby bok choi leaves separated
handful of picked coriander
8 spring onions cut into inch long pieces on the bias
100g cucumber quarted seeds removed and sliced into sticks
Glaze for vegetables
50g Malt Vinegar
40g brown sugar
15g sesame oil
warm this together to dissolve sugar.
To Serve
Coat each Pork shoulder rectangle in rice flour and pan fry in a medium heat pan in a little oil until golden. Then finish warming in the oven. Pan fry the squid in a hot oiled pan for about 30 seconds add a little salt and a squeeze of lemon juice at the end. To cook the vegetables if you have a wok use that but any wide pan will do add a tbsp of butter and 3 tbsp water to a hot pan and bring to a boil then add the bok choi. Cook until just tender adding a little more water if needed, then add enough of the glaze to the hot pan to coat the bok choi and add the rest and heat briefly and drain. Smear the sweet chilli glaze onto warmed plates and arrange the rest on top of this.
