Fine Dining Pork With Scallops.

Fine dining pork with scallops, cauliflower puree and pickled mustard seeds. Classic flavour pairings with perfectly cooked pork, matched with stunning plating, creates an excellent dinner party dish. This restaurant style recipe takes time but will help you build new skills and confidence in the kitchen. As always our top tip is to plan ahead, prep like a pro and let Chef Shane guide you through creating this delicious dish.

Ingredients: You will need.

• Pork - for this dish we used a pork oyster shoulder (Bone out, approx. 1.4kg). You could also use pork belly, for this dish as pork belly and scallops are a great pairing too! The oyster cut is part of the shoulder and has the blade bone running through it but with the fore shank removed. As the shoulder muscles do a lot of work this meat has great flavour. An increasingly popular piece of lamb it is also a delicious but less common cut of pork. So chat to your local butcher to get your hands on this delicious cut of meat and ask them to remove the bone for you.

• You will also need cinnamon sticks, star anise and salt, to slow cook with the pork.

• Cauliflower puree - to make a beautiful rich, silky puree you will need cauliflower, full fat milk, butter and salt.
• Pickled mustard seeds - this element can be prepped ahead and stored covered in the fridge. You will need yellow mustards seed, apple cider vinegar, water, white sugar and salt.
• Scallops - roe off and muscle removed. When choosing scallops make sure they are fresh, look for plump ones and a nice white colour. If you can't get fresh frozen scallops are also a great options. We recommend sourcing ones that come from Hokkaido in Japan. They are an amazing product with a natural sweetness and firm in texture, hand selected for consistent sizing and are considered the best in the world. You can purchase them frozen from your local fish market, so it's always worth getting to know your local suppliers. Another delicious option for those of you in the Northern hemisphere is the hand dived Scottish scallops!

• To plate - you will also need a green apple and a handful of micro basil leaves (optional).

Method.

Read through the recipe, ahead of time and lay out the steps you will take to complete the dish. We recommend cooking the pork the day before to allow for pressing overnight, other elements can be prepared ahead of time as well. This will make finishing and plating the dish much easier and create less stress in the kitchen, as you get ready to serve your guests.

Slow cooked pork.

Creating slow cooked pork is a fairly simple process, as the oven does must of the work for you!

Preheat your oven to 140 °C / 284 °F. Season only the flesh side of your pork and place in a greaseproof layered oven dish, skin side up. Add the cinnamon sticks and star anise, cover with greaseproof paper, seal the dish in tin foil and place in the oven for 4 hours.

Once cooked remove the tin foil and allow to cool a little, before moving onto pressing the pork.

Pressing the pork.

For the best presentation, we recommend cooking the meat the day before. Giving you time to press the pork and chill over night. This will allow you to create perfect cuts and even portions. To press the pork, once cooked and chilled a little. Leave the pork in between the greaseproof paper, place a tray on top and add some weight. Place in the fridge over night. The next day cut the pork into 3cm x 10cm rectangle portions.

Creating the other elements.

Both the cauliflower puree and pickled mustard seeds can be made a head of time. Both can be stored in sealed containers in the fridge until you are ready to serve. Though the puree will need reheating a little, so allow time for this.

Creating the perfect pork skin.

Before serving, preheat your oven to 180 °C / 356°F and heat a pan with a little oil. Place your pork portions skin side down in the pan, allowing it to crackle and create the perfect skin (yum!). Pressing them down to maintain contact with the heat of the pan helps this process. Then place the pan in the preheated oven, leaving the pork skin side down, for 12 minutes. This method will create perfectly cook pork with seriously crispy skin.

Cooking the scallops.

While the Pork is in the oven time to move on to the scallops. When cooking scallops you want a hot smoking pan. Lightly season the scallop with good flakey salt, sear in the hot pan for a couple of minutes on each side. Then add a knob of butter and baste the scallops, before removing them from the pan. The center of the scallops should be a nice opaque colour.

Finishing the dish.

Now its time to bring all your elements together, use the image below for plating reference:

• Prep your garnishes.
• Warm up your cauliflower puree(if required).
• Take your warm plates and add a few tablespoons of the puree.
• Add the pork portions, then the scallops.
• Spoon over a little pickled mustard seeds and drizzle with a little olive oil.
• Add the garnishes.

Then serve your lucky guests with this beautiful dish and enjoy!

Chef's tips for creating a fine dining dish at home.

This recipe is perfect for foodies who want to show off some new skills and wow their friends and family. Our aim with this recipe and method is to walk you through some new skills. Help grow your confidence in the kitchen and create a dish you will be proud to share. These classic flavour pairings won't let you down and as ever with new recipes we recommend you read the method ahead of time. Think through the process, plan ahead and know the steps you will take. Preparation is key to creating a great dish! Your first step will always be prepping all your ingredients, creating your 'mise en place' like a pro. Then follow our images to help you perfect your plating style.

But most of all enjoy the process of creating this beautiful fine dining pork with scallops dish!

Originally posted 31st May 2021, updated 12th April 2022.

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