Crispy pork with parsley sauce
Crispy pork with parsley sauce and boiled potatoes is, according to Scandification, considered Denmark’s national dish. They say once you taste it you’ll see why. And I have to agree.
This is a very simple dish. You salt the chops, bake them till crispy, boil some potatoes, use some of their boiling water to make a parsley sauce with milk, butter, flour and parsley. Very simple, very tasty and very satisfying.
Just to make this a little different I sprinkled the chops with some Chinese 5 Spice and paprika but honestly it made very little difference. The salt sings out and it all just goes very well together.
The parsley sauce is really just a Béchamel sauce with some parsley and some of the boiling water from the cooked potatoes. I added a little ground allspice and some nutmeg to this because that’s how I make Bechamel sauce. I also added a pinch of sugar – but forgot to put sugar in the ingredient shot.
I really like this. It’s tasty and also very non-threatening. It’s savoury and satisfying without having anything additions that anyone would find challenging.
Reading through a few Danish recipes I think their cuisine is full of flavours I love. And of course there’s Danish pastries… Although apparently Danish pastries were first made by Austrian bakers in Denmark.
Denmark
I haven’t been to Denmark. Only passed through – and bought some lovely salty and sweet gluten-free licorice on the way. The licorice was so nice I’d go back even if it was just for that. But let’s see what else there is to do and see there –
- The most beautiful places in Denmark for nature and reflections
- 25 Best Things To Do In Denmark
- 22 unique things to Denmark
- 11 Places in Denmark Perfect for Food Lovers
Ingredients
- 500g pork belly chops
- olive oil
- 500g potatoes, peeled and quartered (or so that all pieces are roughly the same size)
- 50g butter
- 35g plain flour plus a teaspoon more if using gluten-free flour mix
- 400ml milk
- generous grating of nutmeg
- small pinch of ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon caster sugar
- good bunch of parsley, chopped
- salt
Instructions
- Turn the oven on to 200 C.
- Rub a little olive oil onto the chop and generously sprinkle each chop on both sides with salt. Line a baking tray with tin foil and place the chops on a grill/rack over this. Bake in the oven until crispy - about 30 minutes or so. Turn them the chops over about halfway through the cooking time.
- While the chops are baking, boil the potatoes in water that just covers them. Add a pinch of salt to the water. When the potatoes are soft enough to let a fork pass through them they are done. Drain the potatoes through a sieve or colander draining the water into the milk.
- Mix the nutmeg and allspice into the flour. Melt the butter in a large saucepan on a gentle-moderate heat.
- When the butter has melted stir in the spiced flour. Keep stirring for a minute or so until the flour has cooked. Then add in the milk bit by bit, whisking it in so that the sauce thickens smoothly. Each time the sauce starts to thicken add in more of the milk. When there is no milk left and the sauce has thickened. Stir in a pinch of sugar and remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley - leaving just a little for decoration.
- Serve with green vegetables and some pickles or sauerkraut. Or just the chops, potatoes and parsley sauce by themselves are great. Enjoy!