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Danish fried pork belly with parsley sauce (Stegt flæsk med persillesovs)

The national dish of Denmark, Stegt flæsk med persillesovs (fried pork belly with parsley sauce) represents the quintessential "hygge" meal.  Simple to make and wonderfully comforting to eat.

Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Danish
Keyword pork belly
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Dry brining time 3 hours
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

Pork Belly

  • 16 slices "skin on" pork belly, sliced evenly about a 1/4, - 1/3" (6 - 8 mm), see "Note 1".
  • 1 tablespoon (1 msk) kosher salt, as required.

Potatoes

  • 2.2 pounds (1 kg) small boiling potatoes, peeled or not, your choice.
  • Water to cover potatoes.
  • 1 teaspoon salt.

Parsley sauce

  • 2 tablespoons ((2 msk or 25g) butter, room temp.
  • 2 ½ tablespoons (2.5 msk) All-purpose flour.
  • 1.25 cups (3 dl) Milk.
  • 1/2 - 3/4 cup (1-2 dl) water from the boiled potatoes, more if required.
  • 3/4 cup, (rounded) (2 dl) minced fresh parsley, about one large bunch.

Instructions

Pork Belly Prep

  1. Lightly sprinkle the kosher salt on pork slices and toss well.  Place in refrigerator for about three hours, up to overnight prior to cooking. This well give you a bit of a cure and remove some of the moisture from the pork.

Cooking the pork belly

  1. Preheat your oven to 350-390°F (180-200°C) about half an hour prior to cooking.  If frying, begin preheating a large cast iron skillet prior to cooking.  See note 2.

  2. After the dry cure is complete, blot the pork slices dry and place them on a rack in a foil lined baking sheet.  Place the baking sheet in the middle of a preheated oven. Turn pork slices regularly, at least every five minutes.

  3. The exact cooking time will vary based on thickness of the pork slices.  When the pork looks almost ready, turn your oven up to about 450F (230C) for a minute or two until the skin is crisp and it looks like crackling.  CAUTION: see note 3.  This step can be omitted, and the pork cooked at the lower temp longer.

  4. When the pork looks crisp and delicious, remove from the oven and place the slices on paper towels to drain.  If needed, cover lightly with foil to keep warm.

Potatoes

  1. While the pork is cooking, bring the potatoes to a light boil in lightly salted water.  Once boiling, simmer until done.  About 15-20 minutes or until just soft throughout.  Drain, reserving some liquid (2 cups or so) for making the sauce.  Cover potatoes to keep warm if needed.

Making the parsley sauce

  1. Just prior to the pork and potatoes being ready, melt the butter in a pan.  Next, add the flour, mix with a whisk constantly for about two minutes.  It will get quite thick.  Then add the milk to the mixture about 1/4 cup (1/2 dl) at a time, whisking thoroughly until the milk is combined.

  2. When the milk is combined, thin the sauce using the potato water.  Add potato water a bit at a time until the sauces thickness suits you.  See note 4.

  3. Now, add the finely chopped parsley, stir and let it simmer for a couple of minutes prior to serving.  Lastly, TASTE!  Add salt and white pepper as required for your taste.  Remember that the potato cooking liquid is bringing saltiness into the sauce, so it may not require any salt. TASTE.

Hygge on a plate

  1. Serve with the warm boiled potatoes, parsley sauce and the cooked pork belly.  A side dish of asparagus or peas goes nicely with this warm and cozy dish.

Recipe Notes

Please note that the quantities can be changed by entering the amount you wish in the quantity indicator.  However, the metric will not change. 

Recipe Notes:

  1. Most good butcher shops (meat markets) will slice the pork belly for you.  Remember to ask for "skin on" pork belly.  Asian markets are also a good source for pork belly.  Have them slice it thick.
  2. The original method of preparing this dish was to pan fry in a heavy cast iron skillet until the pork skin was crispy.  Today, to reduce fat, the pork belly is often oven baked, your choice on how to cook.  However, frying does taste better.
  3. CAUTION: When raising the temp to crisp the pork, you must watch this very carefully as you don't want to burn the pork, your oven, our yourself.  Don't walk away from the pork at this point.  It will only take a minute or two to crisp the skin.
  4. You have likely figured out by now that you are just making a nice Béchamel white sauce, thinned with potato cooking liquid.  The potato cooking liquid really improves the taste of this sauce.