Pressed Pork (Julesylte)

Hungry for more? This recipe was featured in a podcast episode!

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This Norwegian recipe takes boiled pork belly, combines it with spices and gelatin and turns it into a sliceable meat product. It sounds a little bit different than what we're used to and in this case different is better. In fact, it's down right delicious!

Cook time: 2 hr Overnight

Additional: 24-48hr to set

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients

Pork

• 2.5 lbs pork belly

• 2 L cold water

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 tsp whole peppercorns

Spice Mix

• 1/2 tsp ground allspice

• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

• 2 1/2 tsp gelatin powder

Directions

Pressed Pork

1. Remove the skin from the pork belly and slice into thin strips. Fill a large pot with cold water, bay leaves and whole peppercorns. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and just before it boils, add in the sliced pork. Cover with a lid, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hr.

2. While pork is cooking, mix together the ground spices, salt and gelatin powder. Set aside.

3. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.

4. When the pork is tender, turn off the heat and remove the pork from the water, using tongs, into a bowl. Reserve the broth for later.

5. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the pork in the bowl and mix using your hands until all the pork is evenly coated.

6. Layer the pork, piece by piece, into the parchment lined loaf pan. Add 1/4 cup of reserved broth to the bowl and rinse up any of the leftover spices and then pour this over the meat in the loaf pan.

7. Fold over the parchment to cover the meat completely. Now you will need to press the meat into the pan. For this I cut out a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the bottom of the loaf pan and placed it on top of the folded parchment. Then I placed a large mason jar of water on its side on top of the cardboard and held it in place with two thick elastic bands so that the pressure was even on the pork.

8. Let the pork set in the refrigerator for at least 24 hr. Cut into thin slices to serve.

Zhuzh it up!

• When you make this for the first time, the amounts in the ingredients above make a small loaf. Once you've fallen in love with this delicious recipe, double it to make a bigger loaf!

• Serve cold or hot on lefse or any other bread with a dollop of spicy mustard!

This amazing recipe was written by Nevada Berg. Find it on the North Wild Kitchen Website:

Norwegian Christmas Pressed Pork