Mumbai Food: City chefs tell you how to use pork fat to make delicious dishes

Gracians mums pork vindahlo with crispy pork belly recipeThe list on your left features items that made it to the worlds top 10 nutritious foods in a study by the BBC Pork fat has garnered maximum attention for an unexpected entry on No 8 Lard or pork fat is made of 50 per cent monounsaturated fats compared to 32 per cent in butter and 6 per cent in coconut oil and are easily broken down by the body Lard is also lower in saturated fats than other animal fats like butter and tallow Subhash Shirke executive chef of Woodside Inn explains adding Pork fat is relatively inexpensive and readily available Chefs from around the world have always used fats to naturally flavour meats soften the textures and also avoid using any other additional oil or butterSiddharth Kashyap feels the best way to use the pork fat is to use it as a shield from excessive heat PicPradeep DhivarBig fat surpriseAt Porto and Poie chef Gracian De Souza uses lard to flavour his dishes Since I am running a Goan and Portuguese restaurant pork fat plays an important part in some of my dishes I use it to flavour my vindaloo and other dishes and I dont trim the fat of the meat either Nine times out of 10 lard comes from the pork belly In India pork lard is not used as much but internationally it is popular Take the French onion soup for example It is traditionally made using bacon fat India is not a high porkconsuming country and we dont use lard alone The pork belly with its layers of fat and meat is not a lean cut like pork loin which has very little fat and mainly meat However since a lot of people these days are on a Ketosis diet that requires them to consume more fat and protein pork belly which is a rich source of both is a great option for themPork potentialChefowner Siddharth Kashyap of Boston Butt has recently launched an Asian menu thanks to a some new Asian glaze recipes he has tested in the kitchen Filipinostyle pork belly skewers smoked for six to eight hours and then grilled and Hoisin pork belly with Asian spice fettuccine are the new entrants to the menu The best way to use pork fat is to use it as a shield from excessive heat For example when we cook our pork shoulder we trim a little bit of the fat as the meat in India is a little odd with more fat and less meat We keep just enough so it gets rendered at low temperature for longer hours exposing the flesh at just the right hour to form the perfect crust with the rub High heat doesnt do justice to the produce he says adding that pork fat has to be stored right One has to render it in a pressure cooker or a heavy bottom pan This needs a lot of energy to create what a cheaper source of oil can provide But people who enjoy the flavour of pork fat will usually use the lardPorky picks across the citySeared pork bellyThis comes with a housefermented triple crunch mustard glaze and red wine vinegartossed cabbage slaw Cost Rs 530At Toast and Tonic Unit no 1 ground floor Jet Airways Godrej BKC Building Bandra Kurla Complex Bandra EastCall 2653472236hour Belgian pork bellyServed with Emmental croquette sweet potato mash and sage jus for this dish executive chef Alexis Gielbaum uses a sousvide machine for this dish The meat is kept intact coated with salt pepper thyme and sage It is packed in a vacuum bag and cooked at 75degree Celsius for 36 hours Once an order is placed a slice of this belly is panfried to get a crispy skin and seared meat flavourCost Rs 380At Slink and Bardot 329A Thadani House opposite Indian Coast Guard Worli VillageCall 7045904728Smoked chili pork belly bruschetta amp green apple sliversSlowcooked for over six hours the belly is cooked in the natural fat that encases itCost Rs 445At Woodside Inn Indian Mercantile Mansion Wodehouse Road opposite Regal Cinema ColabaCall 22875752Pork festThe Goan and Portuguese restaurant serves an array of porkbased dishes including mums traditional pork vindalho pork chilly with chourico oil and fried sage and the spare rib and mas with alsande beans and braised shallots in pic Cost Rs 450Rs 300Rs 350At Porto and Poi Juhu Tara Road above Grandmamas Cafe JuhuCall 74000929961 Almonds2 Cherimoya3 Ocean perch4 Flat fish5 Chia seeds6 Pumpkin seeds7 Swiss chard8 Pork Fat9 Beet greens10 SnapperCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates