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Vinidaloush with plantain and coconut fungee

A Caribbean twist on a vindaloo  – made with tender, slow-cooked pork belly marinated in a herby green seasoning.

Preparation time
overnight

Cooking time
over 2 hours

Serves
Serves 6–8

By Andi Oliver
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the green seasoning

  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 10g/⅓oz fresh bay leaf
  • 1 small bunch flatleaf parsley
  • 1 small bunch fresh coriander
  • 4 spring onions
  • 10 garlic cloves
  • 1 green chilli or 1 Scotch bonnet, depending on how much heat you like
  • 6 small Caribbean seasoning peppers (about 20g/¾oz), or a mix of red, yellow, and/or green mini sweet peppers
  • ½ white onion
  • 400ml/14fl oz cold pressed rapeseed oil, or any neutral oil
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the marinade

  • 200ml/7fl oz sherry vinegar
  • 5 tbsp green seasoning (see above)
  • 2 tsp ground allspice
  • 4 bird’s-eye chillies, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds

For the vinidaloush

  • 2.4kg/5lb 5oz pork belly, deboned, skin on, skin and flesh scored
  • 2 large pinches sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper

For the plantain and coconut fungee

  • 1 very ripe (dark brown/black) plantain, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 300ml/½ pint stock of your choice
  • 400ml tin coconut milk
  • 1 tsp Caribbean curry powder
  • pinch fresh thyme leaves
  • 300g/10½oz coarse cornmeal or polenta
  • unsalted butter, for turning/swirling
  • big pinch salt and coarsely ground black pepper

For the sauce

  • pork cooking juices
  • remaining marinade
  • 2 tbsp clear honey
  • 120g/4¼oz cold unsalted butter, diced

Method

  1. To make the green seasoning, add all the ingredients to a food processor and season to taste with salt and pepper. Blend to the consistency of a salsa verde and keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 2–3 weeks.

  2. To make the marinade, combine all the ingredients together in a bowl.

  3. To prepare the vinidaloush, place the pork belly in a large bowl, then pour over the marinade, making sure the pork is coated all over. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the pork in the fridge to marinate overnight.

  4. The next day, preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1. Remove the pork belly from the marinade and transfer it to a board, reserving the bowl of marinade. Rub the salt into the scored skin of the pork belly. Set a heavy-based, wide frying pan over a high heat until it is almost smoking-hot. Lay the pork belly into the pan folded in half, skin-side down and sear until you get a good colour all over, turning the belly so that both sides get evenly seared.

  5. Transfer the pork belly to a roasting tin, skin-side down. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the reserved marinade over the scored flesh and give it a couple of grinds of black pepper.

  6. Slip the roasting tin into the preheated oven and roast for 3 hours, checking on the pork every hour and spooning over a little more of the marinade. When the meat is completely tender, remove from the oven, transfer the pork belly to a board, cover with kitchen foil and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

  7. While the pork is resting, make the plantain and coconut fungee. Add all the ingredients, apart from the cornmeal and butter, to a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 8–10 minutes until the plantain is tender. Remove from the heat and, using a potato masher or a fork, mash the soft plantain into the cooking liquid.

  8. Return the pan to a medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the cornmeal in a steady stream, while continuously stirring/beating the mixture with a wooden spoon. It will quickly come together into a very stiff kind of porridge. Keep beating the mixture for another 2 minutes, then pinch off a little piece and taste to check the texture – it should now be smooth and soft. If it’s not, cook and stir for a little longer before checking again. Remove from the heat.

  9. Add a knob of butter and a large spoonful of the fungee to a small bowl. Swirl the bowl around, tossing the mixture around the bowl until it forms a smooth ball (don’t look for a perfect round result, you just want it to come together). Tip out and repeat with another spoonful of fungee and 1 teaspoon more butter for every other swirl.

  10. When you are nearly ready to serve, take the pork cooking juices from the pan and what is left of the marinade and pour both into a large, wide frying pan. Set over a medium heat and let the mixture bubble up. Add the honey along with a splash of water and bubble for a few more minutes. Finally, add the butter and bubble for another few minutes, then remove the sauce from the heat.

  11. To serve, place the ball of fungee onto each serving plate, carve the rested meat and pour the sauce from the pan back over the succulent meat.

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