Braised Pork with Mirepoix, made with SN3

Spice Curry Symphony No.3 (SN3) makes this Braised Pork with Mirepoix.

SN3, the herbal blend built on the idea of a bouquet garni you can eat, is good for all kinds of braises as well as for spice curry.

The recipe here is a braise of pork and mirepoix — the flavour base used in French cooking, made by cooking diced aromatic vegetables over low heat for a long time without letting them colour or catch.

Put like that it may sound demanding, but it is very simple.

The only seasonings are salt and sugar.

The tomato sauce, with the essence of the aromatic vegetables and the pork dissolved into it, is made brighter still by the spices and herbs of SN3. It is hard to believe a dish seasoned with salt alone can taste so deep, and it will probably surprise you.

Good with rice, and good with baguette or other bread.

If you have Spice Curry Symphony No.3 in hand, this is one we would very much like you to try.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• SN3 / starter spices (the bag of whole spices): 1 bag
• SN3 / powder spices (the bag of ground spices): 1 bag
• Canned whole tomatoes: 1 can (400g)
• Onion: 1
• Carrot: 1
• Celery: 1
• Garlic: 1–2 cloves
• Pork shoulder loin (in a block): 300g
• Salt: 1 tsp
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Plain flour: 1 tbsp
• Olive oil: 4 tbsp
• White wine: 100ml
• Water: 200ml
  
  

Preparation

• Finely chop the garlic.
  
• Cut the onion, carrot and celery into 1cm dice. Cutting them as evenly as you can is what makes the dish.
• Cut the pork shoulder loin into easy-to-eat cubes, rub in salt (not counted in the quantities above) and 1 tsp of the SN3 powder spices, and leave it for about 10 minutes.

For the salt rubbed into the meat we suggest 0.8% of the weight of the meat. For 300g, that is 2.4 grams.

Method

1. Put the olive oil: 3 tbsp in a pan over low heat, and once the oil has warmed, add the starter spices (the bag of whole spices) and the garlic: 1–2 cloves.
   
   
2. Once the garlic becomes fragrant, add the onion, carrot and celery.
   
   
3. When the onion has cooked to the point of turning translucent, add a pinch of salt (not counted in the quantities above) and a little water, cover the pan and steam over low heat for about 5 minutes.
   
   
4. Dust the pork shoulder loin with the plain flour: 1 tbsp, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan, brown the meat on the outside and add it to the pan from step 3. (The inside of the meat can stay rare.)
   
   
5. Add the white wine: 100ml to the frying pan from step 4, set it over medium heat, scrape the base of the pan as the alcohol cooks off, and add the resulting sauce to the pan from step 3.
   
   
6. Add the canned whole tomatoes: 400g, salt: 1 tsp, sugar: 1 tsp and all the remaining SN3 powder spices to the pan, stir them in while crushing the whole tomatoes, then simmer uncovered over low heat for 20 minutes.
   
   
7. Finally, taste and adjust the salt.

That is it.

Finely chopped celery leaves scattered on top work well too.