I once had a gentleman tell me it was the cat's meow in his opinion. While I think it's lends itself to many things, it's not my personal preferred choice to fry up and eat a pound of it at breakfast, though it can be. More often, it is used as a seasoning for beans, black-eyed peas or cooked with leafy green vegetables such as collard greens or turnip greens. I love keeping a bag of it already cooked in my freezer to add to soups and stews to add depth of flavor.
Pork jowl (hog jowl or jowl bacon), is located below and across the pig’s chin, and when cooked right, it is super tender and melts in your mouth. Here are some great recipes to use your jowl bacon in.
Pork Jowl Stew with Red Wine
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients
3.3 lb pork jowl
0.2 lb bacon, sliced
3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp paprika powder
1 tbsp sweet marjoram, dried
5 oz of your favorite red wine
1 big onion, sliced
1 large carrot
0.5 lb button mushrooms
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp ground pepper
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
Instructions
Slice the pork jowl meat into pieces of around an inch each.
Heat the oil in a cast iron pan.
Sauté the bacon, then the onion for a few minutes.
Add paprika powder, pork jowl, marjoram and fresh thyme sprigs.
Let the pork jowl brown for a few minute while stirring.
Add your favorite red wine.
Add about 17 oz of water, it should almost cover. Cook on medium heat with the lid on.
In the meantime, chop the carrots into small cubes and add into the stew.
After 40 minutes is up, check that meat is soft enough before adding the mushrooms.
Add a bit of water if required. Cook for another 15 minutes.
Check that the pork jowl are tender. Add the tapioca flour and stir well.
Adjust the consistency of the gravy with water as necessary.
Season with salt and pepper and cook for another couple of minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
Notes
You can pair it with bread, potato or rice.
Caramelized Brussels with Pork Jowl
1 cup (about 7 or 8 slices) of pork jowl
2 tablespoons of olive oil (if needed)
1 pound of Brussels sprouts, cleaned and cut in half
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
4 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
In a room temperature pan, add the pork jowl in 1 layer. Then, heat it on the stove on a medium heat. Allow the pork jowl to cook on one side until it’s golden brown, then flip and allow it to finish cooking. Then, remove and drain on paper towels.
Add in the Brussels sprouts in one layer and let them cook for a while on one side. Resist the urge to touch them. Let them get brown and crusty on one side and then flip them. *If the pan gets too dry, add in a bit of olive oil to keep the pan lubricated.
Finish the dish by adding in sugar, salt, garlic, garlic powder, salt, and red pepper flakes. Cut the cooked pork jowl into small pieces and toss with the cooked Brussels sprouts.
Cook the sprouts until your desired doneness. If you like them more tender, cook a bit longer. If not, don’t. Either way, they’ll be delicious!
Sweet Spicy Pork Jowl
Servings - 4
Prep time 30 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 pound pork jowl
1/4 cup chinese wine
2-3 chili peppers
2 cloves garlic
1 small carrot
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 cup dark soy sauce
4 tbsp fish or oyster sauce
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup shallots
5 tbsp sugar
Directions
Thinly chop your chili peppers and cilantro leaves and place them in a bowl. Then using the flat surface of your sharp knife, press the garlic cloves and then chop into fine pieces. Dice your shallot and carrot into thin slices.
Add all of your wet ingredients and dry ingredient ingredients to your container of choice on top of the pork jowls. If you’re using a ziplock bag you’ll want to lightly squeeze the air out and zip the bag shut. You can shake the bag if you wish or you can massage the ingredients into the meat with your hands.
If you’ll be using an airtight container, you can put a tight lid on and shake the container around so the ingredients all mix. Alternatively, you could use your hands to mash everything into the meat and then place your lid on top.
Leave your meat to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, pour some olive oil into a large pan and place the pork jowls into the pan. You can pour all the mixture in or you can use tongs to place just the meat into the pan. Cook on medium heat for 5-10 minutes making sure the jowls are
cooked through. If you’ve poured in all the sauce, you can leave it to simmer and reduce it down on low heat.
You can add honey at this point or later on when you are serving. Let the sauce cook until it is sticky and thicker.
Serve with white or brown rice and garnish with honey and pepper.
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