Squid Ink Spaghetti

SAVORY

Apr 1

Kimchi and Pork Belly

Chef Name and Association
Yield: 12 servings

“This dish stems from my love of eating Asian food on days off—Korean barbecue, dim sum, and pho. We also wanted to put an Asian fusion dish on the menu so we wouldn’t pigeonhole ourselves as Italian restaurant.” – Spencer White

INGREDIENTS

Pork Belly:
6 cups salt
1 teaspoon pink salt
4 cups brown sugar
1 cup black peppercorns
1 cup fennel seeds
½ cup pink peppercorns
One 4- to 5-pound pork belly

Squid Ink Spaghetti:
627 grams semolina, plus additional for dusting
627 grams all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons squid ink
Water

To Assemble and Serve:
Salt
Olive oil
Thinly sliced garlic
Crushed red pepper
4½ quarts kimchi, chopped with liquid reserved
¾ pound butter
Salt
Kikkoman rice vinegar
Thinly sliced scallions

METHOD

For the Pork Belly:
In a large mixing bowl, combine salt, pink salt, and sugar. In a dry pan over medium heat, toast spices and then stir into salt-sugar mixture. Place pork belly in a nonreactive container, coat in spice mixture, and cure overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, heat the water bath of an immersion circulator 60°C. Rinse spices from pork belly and pat dry. Transfer to a vacuum bag and seal at full pressure. Cook sous vide 8 hours. Remove from bath and cool. When cool, remove from bag slice pork into 1-ounce cubes.

For the Squid Ink Pasta:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a hook, combine semolina, flour, and squid ink; mix until incorporated, adding water as needed but keeping the dough as dry as possible. Remove dough and rest overnight. Through a pasta roller, roll sheets of dough, starting at the thickest settings and repeating until you reach the number 2 setting. Attach a spaghetti cutter to the roller and cut sheets into noodles. Divide noodles into 12 portions and place a a semolina-dusted sheet tray.

To Assemble and Serve:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In a sauté pan on medium-high heat, fry 5 pieces of Pork Belly until crisp. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. In a separate sauté pan over medium flame, heat olive oil. Add garlic and toast until golden brown. Add crushed red pepper and cook until fragrant, followed by 1½ cups kimchi and some its liquid; add 2 tablespoons butter stir to emulsify. Drop 1 portion Squid Ink Spaghetti into boiling water. When is al dente, drain spaghetti, reserving some pasta water. Add to spaghetti to the pan, tossing to coat, adding pasta water, if needed. Season with salt and rice vinegar. Transfer to a shallow bowl, top with 8 pieces of Pork Belly, and garnish with scallions.

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