Pork and Watermelon Salad
Published August 15, 2006
Ruby Washington/The New York Times
- Total Time
- 4 hours 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE PORK BELLY
3 pounds raw, uncured pork belly, skin on
2 cups kecap manis
6 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime
Canola oil or peanut oil, for frying
All-purpose flour, for dusting
Salt, if needed
FOR THE WATERMELON SALAD
5 pounds watermelon
2 cups rice wine vinegar
3 shallots, sliced
2 Thai bird chilies, sliced
2 kaffir lime leaves
1 ounce (2 inches) fresh gingerroot, peeled and sliced
½ round (1 ounce) palm sugar or 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
FOR THE DRESSING
1 ½ rounds palm sugar (3 ounces) or 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 cup rice wine vinegar
½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
6 ounces gingerroot, peeled and sliced
6 cilantro roots and 1 inch of stems, cleaned and trimmed
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
3 scallions, trimmed and sliced, for garnish
1 cup torn Vietnamese coriander (rau ram) leaves, for garnish
1 cup torn Thai basil leaves, for garnish
Sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Crosshatch pork belly skin with sharp knife, making cuts ½-inch apart. Place pork belly in non-reactive dish. Combine kecap manis, vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice, and pour over pork belly. Chill for 24 to 48 hours, turning several times.
- Step 2
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place belly, skin side up, in baking pan with 2 cups marinating liquid and 2 cups water. Liquid should come halfway up the pork; if not, add more water or use smaller pan. Cover pan with foil. Bake until a skewer penetrates the belly with little or no resistance, 3 to 4 hours. Remove pork from liquid and let cool. Leaving skin on, slice belly into 1-inch chunks.
- Step 3
To make salad, cut watermelon flesh into 1-inch cubes (discarding seeds). Reserve rind. Refrigerate flesh until ready to use. With sharp knife, remove outer green skin of rind, reserving white part. Dice white rind into ½-inch cubes. Transfer to a heatproof bowl.
- Step 4
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine rice wine vinegar, shallots, chilies, kaffir lime, ginger, palm sugar, salt and 1 cup water, and bring to boil. Cook until sugar dissolves. Strain liquid over white rind. Let cool, then chill for at least 1 hour or as long as 2 days.
- Step 5
To make dressing, roughly crush palm sugar using a mortar and pestle or place in a plastic bag and crush with a hammer or heavy can. In a food processor, combine sugar with vinegar, lime juice, ginger, cilantro, garlic and salt, and blend until smooth.
- Step 6
In medium saucepan or wok, heat 3 inches canola or peanut oil to 375 degrees. Lightly dust pork belly cubes with flour, shaking off excess. Working in batches, fry pork belly until dark golden brown and crispy, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Season with salt, if necessary.
- Step 7
In a mixing bowl, toss the watermelon flesh with just enough dressing to coat. Divide pork among serving plates, and top with watermelon flesh and a few cubes of pickled rind. Drizzle additional dressing around plate. Garnish with scallions, coriander leaves, basil, and sesame seeds, if using.
Private Notes
Comments
Well, mark me down as a kitchen ignoramus, because I hadn't a clue what kecap manis is (also spelled ketjap manis). No note from the author, no hint on a substitute. Thanks to the internet I now know it is a sweetened aromatic soy sauce, with a dark color, a thick syrupy consistency and a unique, pronounced, sweet and somewhat molasses-like flavor due to the generous addition of palm sugar. Kecap manis is widely used with satay.
My two tips: 1. Frying the pork cubes for 6-7 was way too much, making my first batch charred and inedible. I recommend 2-4 minutes while monitoring them carefully to make sure they aren’t burning. 2. Yellow watermelon works beautifully with the vinegary sauce, evoking a pineapple flavor that complements the dish.
Oyster sauce???
Well, mark me down as a kitchen ignoramus, because I hadn't a clue what kecap manis is (also spelled ketjap manis). No note from the author, no hint on a substitute. Thanks to the internet I now know it is a sweetened aromatic soy sauce, with a dark color, a thick syrupy consistency and a unique, pronounced, sweet and somewhat molasses-like flavor due to the generous addition of palm sugar. Kecap manis is widely used with satay.