Cheeky delight

The one item that keeps me coming back to the local barbecue plaza is grilled pork cheeks. For ₱5 a stick, you get three or four flimsy slices of fatty jowl generously basted with sweet banana ketchup. I can easily finish ten sticks in one sitting and call that a happy meal. Too happy, in fact, that at times I can not wait for the barbecue plaza to open and so make my own at home.

Now that I have professed anew my love for porcine adipose tissue, I also have to admit that my suki’s latest delivery of jowls was too fatty, even by my standards. In retrospect they would have been perfect for chicharon (pork cracklings), and I mean to do so one of these days.

For the recipe pictured here, slice each jowl into two or three big chunks, season with salt (a tablespoon for every kilo), and place in a pot lined with crushed garlic, two dried bay leaves, and some whole black peppercorns. Pour in a cup of water (if you’ve been following this blog, you should know of the success I have had with tenderizing meat using a minimum of water) and let simmer on medium to low heat. Check at the 30-minute mark — a fork should slide easily through the skin with only a little resistance; if not, continue cooking until jowls reach that level of tenderness. Remove jowls from pot, discarding spices, and let cool.

Meanwhile, soak some barbecue sticks in water so they don’t burn during grilling. Note their thickness: your jowls should be sliced thick enough to accommodate the stick while leaving a layer of pork on both sides (also, take into account that the jowl will shrink/render more fat during grilling). When meat is cold enough to handle, slice into appropriately sized chunks. Season with salt and cracked black pepper, then thread onto skewers. Grill until just seared on both sides. Brush all around with banana ketchup (or a combination of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce, like I do), grill some more until nicely charred (not burnt), and remove from the grill, giving them another baste of the sauce before serving.

This stuff is definitely addicting, if the kind that will get you in trouble with your doctor rather than the police. YOLO, indeed.