- Coat the pork tomahawk rack in the oil and cover all over with the jerk seasoning. Place in a baking pan.
- If smoking on the BBQ: fire up your smoker for indirect heat using cherry wood for the smoke flavour. Stabilise the temperature at 110ºC / 230ºF and smoke the pork rack until it reaches an internal temperature of 60ºC, which will take about 2 hours, then let the rack rest on a warm plate for 20 minutes.
- If cooking in the oven: preheat the oven to 170ºC / 160ºC fan / Gas 4. Cook for around 1 hour or until the pork rack reaches an internal temperature of 60ºC, then let the rack rest on a warm plate for 20 minutes.
- While the rack is cooking, mix all the bonbon ingredients together thoroughly by hand and shape into small meatballs. ‘Pané’ the bonbons (meaning to dip them in flour, then egg, then panko) and set aside until you’ve coated the whole batch.
- Make the salsa verde by pulsing the ingredients in a blender or mixer until well mixed. Pour this into a bowl, cover and set aside or keep in the fridge until you need it (you can keep any sauce you don’t use for up to three days in the fridge).
- You can also whip up a quick, zesty crème fraiche dip to accompany the bonbons specifically. Just mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Once the rack is cooked, cut it into individual steaks by slicing down between the bones. You can finish the steaks either directly over BBQ coals or in a very hot griddle pan. The cook time will depend on the thickness of each steak – we recommend using a temperature probe to make sure the steaks reach 70ºC. Rest the steaks before plating them up.
- With the griddle or BBQ nice and hot and while the steaks are resting, cut the sweet potatoes into thick steaks and brush with some oil. Grill them through for about 6 minutes, turning every 2 minutes, until just slightly soft (we don’t like them too squishy).
- At the same time, heat a pan of oil to 165ºC and fry the bonbons for 8-10 minutes, carefully turning in the pan until golden and crispy. Drain on a paper towel.
- Now you’re ready to plate up all the elements and bring the dish together. Place a few sweet potato steaks and 1 tomahawk on each plate, along with a few pork bonbons. Drizzle the steak with salsa verde and serve the crème fraiche in a small bowl for dipping the bonbons.
Smoked pork tomahawks with West Indian salsa verde, grilled sweet potato steaks and crispy porc bonbons by Hang Fire
- Prep time 40 mins
- Cook time 1 hrs 30 mins
- Serves 5+
Ingredients
- 1 rack of pork tomahawks (6-8 bones)
- 3 tbsp jerk seasoning
- 3 tbsp neutral flavour oil (e.g. vegetable or sunflower)
- 3 large sweet potatoes
For the pork bonbons:
- 250g pork mince
- 1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- 2 tbsp jerk seasoning
- 2 tbsp Creole seasoning
- a handful of parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 150g panko breadcrumbs
- egg wash (3 eggs, 100ml milk, whisked)
- plain flour
- 1l vegetable oil, for shallow frying
For the West Indian salsa verde:
- ½ a bunch of fresh parsley, stalks removed
- ½ a bunch of fresh thyme leaves
- ½ a bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 50ml olive oil
- 100g fresh pineapple (or chunks from a tin)
- 4 limes, juice and zest
- 1 Scotch Bonnet chilli, cut in half and deseeded
- 5cm thumb of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 3 tbsp Canadian maple syrup
For the zesty crème fraiche:
- 200ml crème fraiche
- 1 lime, zest and juice
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp Canadian maple syrup
Method
For Porc From Wales Week 2022, we teamed up with food broadcasters Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn – aka the Hang Fire girls – to show why we should be choosing to source our pork locally.
Here’s what Sam and Shauna say about their recipe:
“Pork tomahawks are the ribeyes of the pork world, with an extra-long bone and a handle to munch them on – they not only taste wonderful, but they look pretty awesome too. Your butcher will happily prepare this cut for you. You can either make this recipe by smoking on a BBQ or cooking in the oven at home, but in our opinion you can’t beat the flavour from the fiery charcoals!
“We love to pair this delicious cut with our riff on a salsa verde, with a fragrant Scotch Bonnet heat, sweetness from the pineapple and zestiness from fresh lime juice. You can even make the salsa verde the day before to save time.
“The pork ‘bonbons’ are a delicious, crispy snack and can be made with any quality pork mince, but we used neck as it’s got just the right amount of flavourful fat. The bonbons add a wonderful texture to the whole dish but they can easily be served on their own with a salad as a snack or starter as well.”