Rillettes de Porc
Pork shoulder cooked for hours in its own fat until it can be pulled to threads, packed into a pot and sealed. A preserve, and one of the great things to do with cheap meat.
Photograph credit: Rillettes de porc, Auberge de La Mole by Monica Arellano-Ongpin · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Photograph credit: racines: rillettes de porc by mu foo · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
How to Make Rillettes de Porc
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Heat the oven to 140°C / 275°F.
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Put the pork, fat, wine, water, garlic, bay, thyme, peppercorns, cloves and salt into a heavy casserole.
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Cover and cook in the oven 240 minutes, until the meat falls apart at a touch and is swimming in clear fat.
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Lift the meat out with a slotted spoon and discard the bay, thyme and cloves. Strain the fat and keep it.
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Shred the meat with two forks into fine threads. Do not use a processor.
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Beat in enough of the warm fat to make it loose and glossy — about two-thirds of it. Season with the white pepper, allspice and more salt, then chill briefly and taste again, since cold fat mutes salt.
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Pack into small pots, level the tops and pour the remaining melted fat over to seal. Chill until set.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Tips for Making Rillettes de Porc
- Two forks, never a processor. Threads, not paste.
- Season cold, then taste again. Fat hides salt.
- The fat cap keeps the top from drying out — keep it unbroken.
Changing the Recipe
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
- A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.
What to Serve with Rillettes de Porc
- Toasted baguette
- Cornichons
- A glass of Chinon
Keeping and Reheating
Refrigerated under its fat seal for up to 4 days, opened or not; cooked meat sealed under fat is still cooked meat, and the seal does not make it keep longer. It freezes for 3 months.
Rillettes de Porc FAQ: Common Questions
How long does Rillettes de Porc take to make?
25 minutes of preparation and 4 hours of cooking, so at least 4 hours 25 minutes. The method also needs time for chilling until set, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 10.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. The calories include 3 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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