Grilled pork belly with parsley sauce (stegt flæsk med persillesovs)

“The Danish people recently voted stegt flæsk the national dish of Denmark in a country-wide survey. Pork belly is grilled or fried until very crisp, and served with potatoes and a rich white sauce loaded with fresh parsley. It’s a bit like a big plate of pork crackling and for many Danes, it is the ultimate childhood memory of comfort food.” Adam Liaw, Destination Flavour Scandinavia

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 800 g boneless pork belly, cut into 1 cm-wide slices
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 kg kipfler potatoes
• 2 tbsp salt
• sea salt flakes, to season

Parsley sauce

• 50 g butter
• 35 g (¼ cup) plain flour
• 500 ml (2 cups) milk
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup finely shredded curly or flat-leaf parsley, plus extra, to serve
• freshly ground black pepper

Resting time 5 minutes

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Place the pork on a large rack set inside a large roasting tray. Brush the pork with oil and season well with sea salt flakes on both sides. Cook for 40 minutes or until the pork is golden and crisp, turning halfway through. Remove from the oven and cover loosely with foil. Set aside for 5 minutes to rest.

Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Add the salt and bring to the boil. Simmer the potatoes for 15 minutes or until tender when tested with a skewer. Drain and allow to dry in the pan with the lid off.

To make the parsley sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the cold milk, then simmer, stirring continuously until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, then stir through the parsley.

Serve the potatoes and pork with the parsley sauce drizzled over and a sprinkling of extra parsley.

 

Note

• You can ask your butcher to cut the pork belly for you. Alternatively, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 1-2 hours to make it firmer and easier to slice. 

Photography, styling and food preparation by Adam Liaw.

Visit the Destination Flavour Scandinavia program page for recipes, videos and more.

View recipes from past seasons: Destination Flavour Down Under, Destination Flavour Japan, Destination Flavour S1.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.