On a recent Friday afternoon, I was talking about music with Colton Dearing at Studio Grocery, a cool vintage shop on Washington Avenue that he co-owns. While we were talking, Claire Ruland came in and began browsing the clothes. Claire is a jazz singer who is featured on page 72 of this magazine. After introductions were made, Colton asked Claire about where she might be playing. She had a performance scheduled for that night at Segovia Wine Bar. Colton said he was sad to miss it, but he already had plans that evening. He was having dinner at Kevin Coomer’s house, and salt-cured pork belly was on the menu.
I saw Colton a few days later, and he said that dinner was excellent and that the meal consisted of pork belly spring rolls.
Coomer told me later that he makes pork belly quite often, “but I don’t like to make it the same way every time because my girlfriend gets tired of it.”
“I was making it multiple times a week for a while, so I had to kind of get creative. But the salt-cured is the best way to do it if you have 48 hours, because it has to sit in the refrigerator and dry out with the salt.”
During the recent dinner, Coomer served the pork belly with cucumber, green apple, mango and carrot and let everyone create their own spring rolls.
“It’s fun to watch everyone try and do it for the first time and then watch their gradual improvement,” he said. “That’s what makes it fun, everybody together at the table.”
He also served a sauce – “kind of a weird one that I threw together” – with lime, cilantro, shallot, garlic and fish oil.
Cooking sort of came naturally for Coomer, who grew up in Franklin, which is just off Highway 6 between Waco and College Station. His grandmother, mother and sisters are all good cooks, he said, “and we’ve always sat down and had food together our whole lives.” His favorite dish to prepare is chicken piccata, “a really bright dish with lemon, butter, white wine and a ton of parsley and parmesan,” he said.
Coomer and a partner formerly owned the food truck Burger Burger and still do some pop-up events around town.
Cooking the pork belly is fairly easy, he said. It goes for about 30 minutes in a 350-degree oven, then for a few more minutes under the broiler. You’ve got to pay attention during that latter step to make sure the pork doesn’t burn.
Coomer usually trims an inch or so from the edges of the pork belly slab and use the trimmings to make chicharrons, which are sometimes called pork rinds.
To make the spring rolls, Coomer places a big pot of water in the center of the table, so everyone can moisten their rice paper and make it malleable enough to be rolled.
In addition to spring rolls, we used some of the diced pork belly, onion, garlic and ginger to make a quick stir fry and served it over a bed of lettuce with sauce drizzled over.
Peanut sauce is always a good choice to accompany spring rolls, but we have a peanut allergy in our house, so we went with a spicy soy sauce.
The Recipes
Pork Belly Spring Rolls
- 1 slab pork belly
- Salt
- 1 package, 8 ounces, dried rice vermicelli noodles, cooked to package directions
- 1 small head lettuce
- 1 medium cucumber
- 1 Granny Smith apple or Asian pear, thinly sliced
- 1 mango, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
- Fresh herbs, such as mint, basil, coriander or cilantro
- 12 8-inch rice paper wrappers or rice spring roll wrappers
Place pork belly on a wire rack over a sheet pan and pat the fat side of the pork belly dry with a paper towel. Using a fork, poke what seems like an excessive amount of holes through the fat side without penetrating the meat below the fat.
Wipe the fat cap with white vinegar. Salt the fat cap side of the pork heavily. Place the sheet pan with the salted pork belly, fat side up, into the refrigerator uncovered for at least 48 hours.
To cook the pork belly, heat oven to 350. Remove salt from pork belly, using a little white vinegar if desired. (The rinsing is very important. If you leave a lot of the salt, the meat will be too salty.)
Place a large sheet of aluminum foil on a clean sheet pan and place the pork belly on the foil. Fold up the edges of the foil so the sides of the pork belly are covered but the top remains exposed. Place in the heated oven for 30 minutes.
Remove meat from oven and set aside. Turn oven heat to broil.
Place the pork back into oven about 10 inches from the heat. Check the meat frequently to avoid burning. If you notice a spot cooking too quickly, cover the spot with a small piece of foil.
Broil the meat for about 10 minutes or until it reaches a desired color and texture. Once cooled, slice the pork into thin strips.
To make the spring rolls: Lay all of the ingredients out onto plates. Add warm water to a large bowl. Quickly dip a rice paper wrapper in the water for a few seconds and lay on a rolling surface such as a cutting board.
Cover the wrapper with lettuce, and then add other ingredients as desired. Roll the spring roll up tightly about halfway, fold in the sides and continue rolling. Repeat with remaining wrappers and ingredients. Makes about 12 spring rolls.
Spicy Soy Sauce
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons chili sauce, or more if you want a more spicy sauce
- 2 teaspoons honey
- Green onion, red pepper and sesame seeds for garnish, if desired
Add the soy sauce, chili sauce and honey to a small bowl. Whisk until combined. Top with garnishes, if desired. Makes about 1/2 cup.
