Glazed Pork Belly with Sweet Potato
Succulent pork belly paired with sweet potatoes creates a flavor profile unlike another. We just love this recipe for Glazed Pork Belly with Sweet Potato during long fall evenings and the holidays!
Ingredients
1¾ lbs (800 g) pork belly
Agave nectar for drizzling
Sea salt flakes
12 small sprigs of thyme
Instructions
Set the EGG for direct cooking at 375°F/191°C.
Remove most of the fat layer from the pork belly, allowing a layer of ⅛inch (3-4 mm) of the soft white fat to remain. Cut the layer of fat on the pork belly crosswise.
Lightly rub the pork belly with the rub, reserving about ⅓ of the rub, and drizzle with agave nectar. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and rub into the meat.
Sprinkle a handful Pecan Smoking Chips on the charcoal embers and add the convEGGtor for indirect cooking and Cast Iron Grid (flat side up). Lay the pork belly with the fat upwards on the grid and close the lid of the EGG. Stabilize the temperature at 325°F/165°C and smoke the pork belly for 35-40 minutes.
With a basting brush, coat all sides of the pork belly with the glaze, reserving about of the glaze. Continue to cook until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 165°F/74°C. Remove from the EGG and loosely cover with foil. Raise the temperature of the EGG to 375°F/191°C.
Cut the pork belly into 1½inch (4 cm) cubes and lay them on the Cast Iron Plancha Griddle. Top with the remaining glaze and rub.
Place the Cast Iron Plancha Griddle with the pork on the grid. Grill for approximately 5 minutes until the glaze is caramelized and the pork is hot.
Serves six.
Glaze Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) peach jam
½ cup (120 ml) barbecue sauce
3 tbsp (45 ml) bourbon whiskey
3 tbsp (45 ml) agave nectar
3 tbsp (45 ml) flower honey
Glaze Instructions
Put all ingredients for the glaze in a pan and bring to a boil on the stovetop while stirring often. Turn the heat to low and simmer gently for approximately 10 minutes.
Rub Ingredients
6 tbsp (90 ml) smoked paprika powder
2 tbsp (30 ml) dried thyme
1 tbsp (15 ml) garlic powder
1 tbsp (15 ml) onion powder
1 tbsp (15 ml) freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp (30 ml) muscovado sugar or brown caster sugar
1 tbsp (15 ml) ground ginger
pinch of chilli powder
Rub Instructions
Mix all ingredients for the rub together.
Sweet Potatoes Ingredients
6 sweet potatoes
7 tsp (35 ml) ground cinnamon
1 ⅓ cups (300 g) butter + extra for greasing the pan
Sweet Potatoes Instructions
Wash and pat dry the sweet potatoes; cut into halves lengthwise. Grease a Big Green Egg Cast Iron Skillet with butter and add the potatoes, cut edge upwards. Dust with 6 teaspoons of the cinnamon, cut 1 cup (225 g) of butter into thin slices and arrange the slices over the sweet potatoes.
Cover the skillet with foil and place in the EGG; cook the potatoes for 45 minutes until the flesh is soft.
Scoop the cooked flesh of six potato halves and place in a bowl. Cut the remaining butter into cubes and add to the potatoes. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon and fold in gently. Scoop a sixth of the mixture onto each potato half. Garnish with the thyme and serve with the pork belly.
Enjoy!
