Why it works: Pork and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,579 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Pork, Pickled
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the pork into flat pieces as soon as it is cold.
Strew a layer of coarse sea salt and a lighter layer of sugar in the salting pan.
Rub the sides of the pork with sugar and salt, then lay the pieces skin side down in the pan.
Between each layer of meat, add a layer of sugar and salt.
Cover the top with a thick layer of salt to exclude air.
Lay a cloth over the pan and place a weighted board on top to keep the meat submerged.
Leave it for a week or ten days.
If the salt hasn't dissolved into brine, sprinkle a little warm water on top if necessary.
The pork will be ready for use in three to four months and can last up to two years if kept from air.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Pork + sugartop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,579 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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