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Beer-Braised Pork Cheeks

Pork cheeks marinated and braised in dark beer make for an absolute succulent and tender slow food winter meal.
Course Main
Cuisine French
Prep Time 5 hours
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 7 hours 30 minutes
Servings 3 -4
Author Johan Johansen

Ingredients

  • 500 grams pork cheeks
  • 150 grams bacon diced
  • 1 pint dark beer porter or stout
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
  • 1 splash Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 splash hot sauce
  • 1 garlic clove crushed
  • 2 carrots chopped
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 250 milliliters heavy cream
  • 100 milliliters chicken stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 star anise pod

Instructions

Marinate pork cheeks

  1. Grab your pork cheeks and sprinkle them evenly with salt, pepper and sugar, set aside for five minutes.
  2. Throw your pork cheeks in a heavy duty plastic bag or similar.
  3. Add hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, soy and vinegar to the bag along with about 200 milliliters of the beer.
  4. Carefully place the bag and put it in the fridge to marinate for about four hours, turning once or twice.
  5. Thoughtlessly sip the remainder of the beer while meat marinates.

Cook pork cheeks:

  1. Evacuate the pork cheeks from the fridge, remove from the marinade and pat them dry. Do NOT discard the marinade.
  2. Put about a tablespoon of cooking oil and the bacon into a large, cold stainless steel sauté pan.
  3. Put pan over medium heat and cook until bacon is crispy and the fat has rendered out, about five minutes.
  4. Evacuate the bacon from the pan, raise heat to medium-high and add a knob of butter.
  5. When butter has melted, put pork cheeks into the pan and brown for a few minutes on each side until golden brown. If you have more cheeks than fit the pan, do this in batches.
  6. When all the pork cheeks have browned nicely, turn the heat back down to low and add the bacon to the pan along with the carrots, the onions and the garlic, bay leaves and star anise.
  7. Add enough reserved marinade to cover the bottom of the pan, cover the pan with a lid and braise the pork cheeks for at least two hours over low heat.
  8. Open another beer and enjoy it slowly while making the sauce and any sides you may desire.

Making the sauce:

  1. Pour the remainder of the marinade into a small sauce pan set over medium heat.
  2. Wait for the marinade to come to a low boil, then cook for about five minutes to boil out the alcohol.
  3. Add the heavy cream and the chicken stock, bring back to a low boil and reduce over medium-low heat for about 30-45 minutes. Don’t boil too aggressively.
  4. If sauce seems a little thin, dissolve a bit of corn starch in cold water, then stir into the sauce. It will thicken almost immediately.

Bringing it all together:

  1. After about two hours, lift the lid off the pork cheeks and test them for doneness. A fork should slide in without any resistance.
  2. Carefully fish out the bay leaves and the star anise pod, then pour the cream sauce into the pan and allow to cook for a further five minutes for the flavors to properly mingle.
  3. Taste for seasoning (it probably doesn’t need any more salt!) and adjust. If the sauce is entirely too rich and creamy, try adding another splash of vinegar or two.