Porchetta lovers, this is going to take you to a whole new level of appreciation of this Italian roast.
Just look at that shot of Matty Matheson's porchetta. It's super juicy and packed with herbs and other good things to give it flavour. But what you're probably noticing more than anything else is THAT CRACKLING.
In his new show, It's Suppertime (get more recipes and tips from the show here) Matty shares his technique for turning pork skin into chicharrón-style crackling, all blistery and salty and crunchy.
"This is kinda dangerous," he warns, before showing what happens if you pour hot oil over the dry skin of a cooked porchetta.
"When you hit it with that hot oil, it puffs, it blisters, and you get that super crispy glass-like chicharrón effect."
And in case anyone hasn't twigged that sloshing hot oil needs to be taken very seriously, he spells it out. "Make sure there's no kids around, okay? You treat this thing with disrespect, it will burn your ---g life away... Please be careful."
The result, he says, is "oh my god" crackling pig skin.
Matty's other tips for making amazing porchetta include:
"it just makes it incredible": Matty chews down on some porchetta crackling Source: SBS VICELAND / It's Suppertime
• When you go into a butcher shop, tell your butcher “Give me the freshest, most fatty, meaty pork belly with the loin attached”.
• Butterfly the meaty part of the pork, then build a "landscape of flavour" - he uses salt, chilli, garlic, orange zest, pepper, rosemary and parsley, plus a slosh of Italian digestif and orange juice - then use your hands to rub it all in.
•Roll the meat as tightly as possible, then use a sharp knife to score the skin in parallel lines from end to end. Don't cross-cut.
• Truss it up - but don't worry if you don't have butcher-level knot skills. Just tie it up enough to make sure it doesn't open up in the oven.
• Use plenty of salt. "This may seem like a lot of salt... because it is a lot of salt", he says in the show. But that's what's going to produce dry, salty skin for the crackling.
Watch It's Suppertime on VICELAND (check the TV Guide for screening times) or watch the porchetta episde right now on SBS On Demand.
