March 24th 2008

Pork Brawn - Recipe

Last week I made pork brawn and was unsure of the results but I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. 

Pork BrawnPork Brawn

Ingredients

  • 1 pig’s head
  • a couple of trotters - preferably back trotters as they have a little more meat on them.
  • 1 bay leaf
  • mixed herbs
  • mixed spices
  • 1 onion
  • lemon juice

Method

Here is my method which I have adapted after reading Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s recipe.

  1. Cut the head and trotters into smaller pieces so that they fit in a large pan.
  2. Cover with water (salt can be added but I decided not to add any to my brawn).
  3. Add bay leaf, herbs, spices and pealed/chopped onion.
  4. Simmer the content and for the first half an hour remove any scum that floats to the top of the pan.
  5. Simmer the contents for about 4 hours.
  6. Remove the head and trotters - at this point I decided to just use the meat on the head and trotters and not the ears, skin, eyes or nostrils. I did use the brains which require you to remove the outer skin.
  7. Mix the meat and brains together and place in a dish.
  8. Add a dash of lemon juice and some parsley.
  9. Strain the stock and then boil up until the stock has reduced.
  10. Spoon a couple of spoonfuls of the stock over the meat and then refrigerate until set.

Pork brawn served with toast & chutney.

Eat the brawn cold with mustard or chutney.

My husband and I ate the brawn with toast and damson chutney and English mustard.

The brawn had a strong pork flavour and the sweetness of the damson chutney mixed with the strong mustard taste made the meal very enjoyable.

In future I am going to cook a belly pork joint and add that meat to the brawn to increase the quantity of meat.

3 Comments »

  1. What an unusual recipe, Sara. I’d hever heard of pork brawn and all the bits that go into it.

    Comment by nikkipolani — March 24, 2008 @ 2:37 pm

  2. Doesn’t look too good, but I’m sure it tasted gorgeous. Especially with the mustard/chutney. Making my mouth water!

    Comment by Jane — March 24, 2008 @ 8:03 pm

  3. It is probably very yummy but I have to say the thought of working with pigs head and feet would stop me from even trying it..! lol
    The chutney sounds good though!

    Comment by Diane — March 24, 2008 @ 8:38 pm

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