Science: Our Pork Belly Sliders Make You More Attractive
Cold, Hard Football Facts for August 11, 2011

By Mark Cotton
Cold, Hard Football Facts Tailgate Chef
 
If a good BLT is dynamite, then these little babies are those explosive crystals Walter White used in the first season of “Breaking Bad” to prove that he wasn’t to be messed with.
 
They’re pork belly sliders with your very own homemade bacon mayonnaise.
 
The beauty of this recipe is you not only get a lot for a crowd, but the pork belly contributes its fat to the mayonnaise which can be used in other things later in the week, including one hell of an egg salad sandwich.
 
This recipe requires an oven so the bad news is that you will have to cook this in advance if you plan to bring it to the game. The good news is that your house will smell like roasted pork, which has been proven to make you both taller and more attractive. Plus, once everything is made, it’s easy to transport and assemble.
 
The recipe is adapted from “Momofuku” by David Chang.
 
Pork Belly Sliders
12 to 24 slider buns (number you need depends upon size)
Tomatoes washed and cut into slices to fit the buns
Lettuce cut to fit
¼ cup kosher salt
¼ cup sugar
1 3-pound slab skinless pork belly
 
If you can’t find skinless pork belly and if your butcher doesn’t like you enough to remove the skin for you, chill it in the fridge until it’s cold and it removes easily with the help of a sharp knife, but it’s easier if your butcher likes you … so be nice.
 
Mix the salt and sugar together and rub all over the meat. Place the belly in a roasting pan or other oven safe container. Discard excess salt and sugar and cover the container with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 6 hours but no more than 24.
 
 Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Discard any liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the container that was holding the pork belly. Roast it in the oven, fat side up, for 1 hour, basting with the rendered fat after 30 minutes.
 
Turn the oven down to 250 degree and roast for another 60 to 75 minutes. The belly should feel like a down pillow when you poke it, but not be falling apart.
 
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the belly to a plate to cool. Pour the accumulated juices and fat into large clear glass container or measuring cup. Let it cool until the fat separates from the meat juices.
 
Separate the fat from the juice, reserving ½ a cup of the fat for the bacon mayonnaise and the rest for whatever diabolical schemes you may have, such as hash browns.
 
It will keep in your fridge for up to two months or in your freezer for up to a year. The accumulated juices, when cooled become an easy to work with jelly that adds great flavor to sauces and can be kept in the fridge for up to a week almost as long as the rendered fat in the freezer.
 
When the belly is cool enough to handle, wrap in aluminum foil and put in the fridge until its chilled. You can skip this step but doing this makes slicing a lot easier.
 
Once chilled, slice the belly into ½-inch slices that are roughly two inches long. Reheat for about 30 seconds per side on a grill or a pan, just enough to get a slight sear and warm them. 
 
Bacon Mayonnaise
(Adapted from “Fat, An Appreciation Of A Misunderstood Ingredient” by Jennifer McLagan)
 
1 egg yolk
¾ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper
½ cup liquid bacon fat, from pork belly recipe above (it shouldn’t be hot, just liquid enough that it pours easily)
 
In a blender, combine the egg yolk, mustard, lemon juice and blend on medium. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 
With the machine running, remove the top and slowly add the bacon fat until the mixture starts to thicken. After about two minutes, you should have added all the fat and it should look like mayonnaise.
 
Turn off the blender and taste, adding more salt and pepper as needed. This makes half a cup of mayo but you can double or triple as needed.
 
Pork Belly Sliders Assembly
To assemble the sliders, lightly grill your or toast your buns, adding butter if you really want to fund your cardiologist’s summer home.
 
Slather the top half with mayo and place the warmed pork belly, one or two slices depending on the size of your buns on the bottom half. Top the meat with a slice of tomato and lettuce and crown with the top of the bun.