The Cheek of it

After a pleasant weekend in West Wales helping my mother to celebrate her birthday I faced a 5 hour drive and the thoughts of cooking a meal at the end of it. I had booked us into Hammet House for a celebratory meal yesterday and knew I would want something exciting but simple upon our return tonight.  With that in mind, I put two good sized pork cheeks into the sous vide on Friday morning at 62.5 C to while away the weekend in a hot bath.

Before their immersion I had generously dusted both of the cheeks with plenty of five spice. Today, once I had retrieved them from the water, I opened the bags and the scent of the five spice filled the kitchen. I set the pork cheeks aside for a short while and put the spicy liquid from the bags into a pan over a medium heat. To this I added a finely chopped red chili, an inch of julienned fresh ginger, two cloves of fresh minced garlic and a small onion, halved and thinly sliced.  I added a tablespoon of agave syrup, dark soy sauce and a splash of rice wine vinegar. I increased the heat and reduced the sauce. In the mean time I heated a wok and prepared some egg fried rice. Whilst this cooked through, I thickly sliced the pork cheeks and added them to the sauce, turning the slices to coat them . Finally I added some sliced lettuce to add a little colour and served the pork on top of the rice. The result was the comforting and spicy dish I sought to relax me into my Sunday evening.

I will write up my notes from the meal at Hammet house later in the week but appetite sated and wine sitting in the glass I will leave you for now and enjoy the rest of my evening.