Danish crispy pork belly (stegt flæsk) with parsley sauce

Recipe for Danish crispy pork belly (stegt flæsk) with a classic roux-based parsley sauce.

Course Main course

Cuisine Danish

Nøgleord Danish food

Total Time 1

Servings people

Calories 784kcal

Flatten the pork slices slightly with the palm of your hand, and rub them with salt.
*Feel free to salt the slices well ahead of time – I often do it 30-45 min. before – and leave them to stand, covered with a tea towel.
Lay the pork slices on a wire rack, making sure the slices do not touch each other.
Place the rack in the oven with a baking tray underneath to catch the fat, and cook the pork in a preheated oven at 200°C, conventional oven (top and bottom heat), for approx. 45-50 minutes.
*Turn the pork once during cooking – do it when one side has become crisp and golden. I give it approx. 30-35 minutes on the first side and 10-15 minutes on the other. You can switch to the grill for the last 5 minutes if the rind is not crisp enough – but keep a close eye on it.

Scrub the potatoes clean. I prefer to leave the skins on – and happily eat them with the skin too. You can also peel them after boiling or peel them beforehand – it is entirely up to you.
Put the potatoes in a pan with plenty of well-salted cold water, adding peppercorns and lovage, parsley or similar if you like, and bring to the boil – then let them boil over a medium heat for approx. 5 min. with the lid on.
Turn off the heat and leave the potatoes to finish cooking in the hot water, with the lid on, for approx. 15 min. Cooking your potatoes this way gives you a lovely firm potato that does not fall apart. The time naturally depends on the size of the potatoes – so test them with a skewer once they have stood for 10 min. Should they still be very hard, simply turn the heat back on for a couple of minutes – you quickly learn to judge the cooking time once you have done it a few times. If they only need a little more cooking, leave them to stand in the water with the lid on.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. Cook the roux through for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the stock a little at a time, whisking well until smooth.
Pour in the cream and whisk it thoroughly into the sauce, then let the sauce simmer gently for approx. 10 minutes. Whisk regularly so it does not catch on the bottom.
Shortly before serving, stir in the parsley and season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.