Why it works: Sugar and pork 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 ↓
To Pickle Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cure
Mix saltpetre, sugar, and salt-prunella in a bowl.
Sprinkle pork with common salt and let it drain for 24 hours.
Wipe the pork dry.
Cure the pork
Rub the pork with the mixed powder and coarse salt.
Place the pork pieces in a pan or tub.
Pack the pork pieces closely in the pan or tub.
After two days, rub the pork with the pickle.
Ensure the pork stays submerged in the salt liquor.
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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Sugar + porktop 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
What each ingredient does
- Saltpetre
- Helps the pork keep its pink colour and gives the cured flavour.
- Sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds a mild sweetness to the cure.
- Salt-prunella
- Acts as a curing agent that works with the salt to preserve the meat.
- Coarse salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the pork as it cures.
- Pork
- The main meat, which firms and preserves as it is salted.
The step that matters
Ensure the pork stays submerged in the salt liquor. If pieces rise above the brine, they are exposed to air and can spoil or cure unevenly. Keeping every piece covered by the liquid helps the salt penetrate evenly and preserves the meat.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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