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 Fickle Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Salt the pork
Rub the sides of the pork well with common salt.
Lay a thin bed of salt in a tray and place one side of pork in it.
Sprinkle the pork with salt to cover it, then lay the other side on top and sprinkle it as well.
Let the pork sit for 2 to 3 days, rubbing the salt in well.
Cure in brine
Cover the pork with the remaining ingredients and rub them in as the salt begins to dissolve.
Turn the sides frequently and ensure they are covered with brine.
The pork will be ready for use in 6 to 8 weeks.
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
- Common salt
- Draws moisture out of the pork and seasons it, slowing spoilage during curing.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the pork's pink colour during the long cure.
- Coarse brown sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds sweetness to the cured meat.
The step that matters
Keep the pork covered with brine. Turning the sides and keeping them submerged ensures the salt cures every surface evenly; exposed areas can spoil before the salt penetrates.
“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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