Stegt flæsk

Ingredients

• Pork belly — in 5 mm slices900 g
• Potatoes1 kg
• Milk500 ml
• Butter50 g
• Flour50 g
• Parsley100 g
• Nutmeg½ tsp
• Pickled beetroot — to serve200 g
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Pat the belly slices dry with paper and salt them on both sides.

   8 min

2. 2

   Lay them in a single layer in a cold dry pan and turn the heat to medium.

   5 min

3. 3

   Fry eight minutes a side, pouring the rendered fat off into a cup as it collects.

   20 min

4. 4

   Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender and peel them hot.

   25 min

5. 5

   Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook it two minutes without letting it colour.

   5 min

6. 6

   Pour in the milk in a thin stream, whisking until smooth, and cook the sauce five minutes.

   8 min

7. 7

   Stir in the mountain of chopped parsley, the nutmeg, salt and pepper and serve with the pork, potatoes and beetroot.

   8 min

About the dish

The belly is cut into thick half-centimetre slices and fried slowly over medium heat. Over a high flame the outside blackens while the inside stays soft and raw.

The sauce is a milk and flour base loaded with parsley — by the bunch rather than the sprig. It should be green rather than white with flecks in it.

In 2014 Danes voted stegt flæsk their national dish. It is weekday home food and appears in restaurants rarely.

Worth knowing

• — Do not preheat the pan. Starting cold, the fat renders gradually and each slice fries evenly in it.
• — Do not throw away the rendered fat. Danes keep it and spread it on bread with salt — a snack in its own right.
• — The parsley goes in at the very end. Boiled, it darkens and the sauce turns a muddy green.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

880 kcal

Protein

36 g

Fat

62 g

Carbs

44 g

More from Denmark

• Frikadeller — Danish meat patties — flat rather than round — fried in butter to a dark crust.
• Smørrebrød — An open sandwich on rye with butter. The order of the layers and the thickness of the butter both matter.
• Risalamande — A cold rice pudding with whipped cream and almonds, under a hot cherry sauce.