Pork Belly Gravy with Apple

Belly pork is the fattiest joint on the counter and after a few hours in the oven the tin is mostly liquid fat with a small amount of gold underneath. Skim it hard, then bring in a Bramley apple, which falls apart to a fluff and thickens the gravy while cutting the richness. Barely any flour is needed.

Ingredients

Makes about 500ml, enough for six plates

• 1 large Bramley apple, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp pork fat from the tin skim off the rest, there will be a lot
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp (15g) plain flour
• 150ml (5fl oz) dry cider or apple juice
• 500ml (18fl oz) hot pork or chicken stock plus the dark juices from the tin
• 2 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed optional but very good with belly
• salt and black pepper

Kit

• Tall jug or fat separator
• Saucepan
• Sieve
• Whisk

Method

1. Move the belly to a board, crackling up and uncovered, and leave it fifteen minutes. Meanwhile pour everything from the tin into a tall jug and let it separate for five minutes. There will be a deep layer of fat and only a small amount of dark juice below it.

2. Skim the fat off carefully with a ladle. Keep two tablespoons for the pan and put the rest in a jar for roast potatoes, because belly gives up a lot and none of it should be wasted.

3. Warm the reserved fat in a saucepan and cook the onion and the fennel seeds over a medium heat for eight minutes until soft and golden, then add the chopped apple.

4. Cook the apple for five minutes, stirring, until the pieces start to break down at the edges and fluff up. Bramleys collapse fast, which is exactly why they are the right apple here.

5. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute, then pour in the cider and let it bubble for three minutes, scraping the pan.

6. Add the hot stock and the reserved dark tin juices and simmer for twelve minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apple has completely disintegrated and the gravy has thickened on its own.

7. Push everything through a sieve with a ladle, working it hard so all the apple pulp goes through. This is what gives the gravy its silky body rather than a floury one. Return it to the pan.

8. Add the cider vinegar and taste. Belly pork is very rich, so this gravy should taste noticeably sharper than a plain pork gravy. Season with salt and plenty of pepper and thin with stock if the apple has taken it too thick.

Tips worth knowing

• Bramleys are the point. An eating apple stays in chunks and tastes sweet, whereas a Bramley falls to fluff and stays tart, which is what you need against the fat.
• Do not put the apple in the roasting tin with the belly. It scorches over three hours and turns bitter. Add it to the gravy pan instead.
• If the gravy still feels heavy on the tongue after the vinegar, a squeeze of lemon at the very end sorts it out.
• Score and dry the belly skin overnight for good crackling, and rest it uncovered so the gravy steam does not soften it.

Keeping and reheating

Four days in the fridge and three months in the freezer. It thickens as it sits because of the apple pectin, so loosen with stock when reheating and check the sharpness again.

Questions people ask