Stegt Flæsk med persillesovs
The Danish National Dish ”Stegt Flæsk med persillesovs” - or Fried Pork Belly with parsley sauce - is a genuine old rural dish that is orientated from the rustic Danish country kitchen from around the middle of the 1700s.
Frying pork belly slices has been known since the Stone Age about 3-400 B.C. - and just as long - as peasants and hunters living in the Stone Age - have had pigs as their livestock. In the beginning of the 1800s the rural country kitchen added potatoes and white sauce and parsley to the fried pork belly slices - and the dish became one of the Danes most favourite and popular meals - and since a real classic dish - which also is quite inexpensive and affordable even for the poorest households. When the recipe hit the city kitchens and restaurants - it became a real classic and traditional dish - and was also counted as a part of the exquisite Danish cuisine that chefs prepared and cooked in different variations.
The ”Stegt Flæsk med persillesovs” is a must to eat once a week dish - and especially during the cold winter season - even though the juicy porky dish can be eaten all year round. In the summertime the Danes have a regular outdoor feast grilling or barbecuing their pork belly slices. The ”Stegt Flæsk med persillesovs” dish is Denmark’s national dish.
Read moreIngredients
Ingredients:
1000 g Pork belly in slices (unsalted)
1 kg Potatoes (new)
50 g Danish Butter
4 tablespoons Wheat flour
Milk 3,5% 4 dl
Whipping Cream 1 dl
Chopped fresh parsley 1-2 dl
Salt (according to taste)
Pepper (according to taste)
Nutmeg - if preferred 1/4 teaspoon
How to cook
Prepare the Pork Belly
- Cut the pork belly in 5-6 mm thick slices - then dry the slices on kitchen roll towel for a while. Season the slices with salt and pepper before frying.
Potatoes and Parsley
- Start peeling the potatoes. Put them in a pot - and cover them with cold water. Boil the potatoes for 15-20 minutes. You can leave the skin on - if you prefer. Especially "new" potatoes of the season with very thin tender - white skin. Chop the parsley into pieces.Some parsley for the sauce and some for decoration.
The Parsley Sauce
- Make a butter ball of butter and flour and stir continuously - while melting in the sauce pot - and until the mixture is turned into a consistent mass. Ad little milk and stir. Repeat until the sauce has the consistency that you favour. Not to thick and not to light. Do not boil the sauce. You will end up having prepared a kind of white “béchamel sauce”. Add the whipping cream and taste the sauce. Put nutmeg in - if preferred. Then add all the chopped parsley - and season to taste with salt and pepper - while stirring. Let the sauce simmer for 5-10 minutes - so the ingredients are stirred and mixed together - while sucking up flavour.
Fry the pork belly
- Fry the pork belly slices for almost 2 minutes on each side on a hot pan with moderate heat until they seam crispy and with a golden surface. Dry them again on kitchen roll towel - where some of the fat can drain - and keep the fried pork belly slices warm in an oven until serving.
Oven or Grill
- One can also put the pork belly in the heated 200° oven and fry for 20 minutes - while turning the slices after half the roasting time. In the summertime it is quicker to grill the pork belly slices on a well heated charcoal grill.
Serving the National Dish
- Put the lukewarm potatoes on a warm plate - arrange the fried pork belly strips - then pour the warm temperate parsley sauce over the potatoes. Sprinkle some fresh chopped parsley over the dish - and serve.
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