Does anyone know where I could find this particular cut of pork? (Ribbe)
It is common in Norway but I’m striking out with my local “butchers.” It looks like pork spare ribs with the belly and skin attached or maybe it’s just bone-in pork belly. (Christmas Dinner - The Norwegian Way - Norwegian Arts)
Mail order is acceptable but I certainly don’t need or want to spend $100 on single-origin organic pork that drinks beer and eats artisanal acorns. I’m striking out so far on the Googling.
This chowhound post seems to have a handle on how it translates in the US but you’ll probably have to special order it from a butcher as it’s not a standard cut here.
I ship. But see if you can get it local through a butcher to avoid the cost. It should be fairly easy to get somebody to debone the ribs for a nice tip.
Thanks for the tips! I am going to attempt this with a thicker boneless pork belly (purchased a 9 pounder, will probably keep 1/3 for another use since I am also making meatballs and gravlax). I plan to cook this on Saturday so I will try to remember to update this thread with a couple pics and results. I’m sure it won’t be absolutely authentic but I’m sure it will be good enough for my needs.
The local butchery scene is severely lacking (as are my planning ahead skills), and the Asian butcher only had pre-sliced bellies in time for this upcoming weekend.
I have purchased various items from there in the past, however, the price premium gives me pause as this is my first go at making this item. If successful this time I may try BB next time so I don’t waste $100. $3/lb for boneless belly is a good compromise in my mind as a first attempt.
Alright…arm twisting was successful (not to mention receiving ok from the accountant/wife). I just got off the phone with Blackbelly and for $10/lb ($22/kg) the are going to hook me up (around $60 all in on a 5 lb / ~2.3 kg belly). Skin on belly with ribs attached, bones cut into thirds to ease serving. Seems like this is a time to take a chance and go for it. I’ll definitely report back as I pick it up on Friday for Saturday dinner.
The ribbe was quite the hit. I will have to do it again once my cholesterol returns to normal. The butcher (Blackbelly Butcher in Boulder) was awesome to work with and for about $10/lb provided a very lovely skin-on, bone-in (spare ribs) belly with the ribs split into thirds to facilitate serving. I scored the skin through the fat (but not into the meat) in about 1/2" - 3/4" squares, generously salted (about 3 tbsp for 6 pounds) rubbed into all the cubes of fat, skin and the meat. I also applied white pepper to give it some flavor but not overwhelm the porcine goodness. I left this loosely covered in foil in the fridge for about 36 hours.
After letting it come up to room temp, I studded the fat with whole cloves and bay leaves and put it in a sealed shallow baking tray (broiler pan covered tightly with foil, with about 200 ml of water in the base of the pan) at 450F for 40 minutes, then removed the foil and reduced the oven temp to 390F for another 1.5 hours. I quickly ran it under the broiler to crisp up a few of the squares of skin that did not fully achieve ‘cracklin’ status. After resting under tented foil for 30 minutes I cut into chunks thanks to the pre-cut rib bones.
I served this with a julesaus (gravy made with rendered pork juice/fat and flour roux, added in some extra clove, cinnamon, prunes, quartered oranges & apples, allspice and chicken stock…after achieving the right consistency I strained it of all the flotsam & jetsam), as well as a potato/celery root/carrot gratin, lingonberries, dilled cucumber salad, homemade meatballs (medisterkaker) and homemade sausage (medisterpolse). We started the dinner with homemade gravlax with dilled mustard sauce, homemade duck breast proscuitto, Jarlsberg & Havarti cheese and rye crisps.