Three Succulent Pork Dish and Wine Pairings

Let’s start with Donald Russell’s Creamy Braised Pork Mini Shanks recipe. A rich and creamy slow-cooked pork dish where the meat is so tender it falls off the bone. With apple cider and Dijon mustard as two of the key ingredients in the sauce, this is an interesting one when it comes to pairing with wine.

Ingredients:

4 pork mini shanks
Small knob unsalted butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 finely diced shallots
1 clove of garlic
Pinch of ground mace
Salt and black pepper
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
150ml apple cider
150ml chicken stock
4tbsp double cream or créme fraiche
2 tsp finely chopped chives

Method:

1. Heat an ovenproof casserole pot on the hob and preheat the oven to 160ºC/Fan 140ºC/Gas 3.
2. Brown the pork shanks in the oil on all sides then remove from the pot.
3. Add shallots, sauté for 3 minutes then add garlic and butter and cook for a minute or so.
4. Add in the Dijon mustard, apple cider and chicken stock, stirring to deglaze any tasty bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a simmer.
5. Pop the meat back in the pot, transfer to the oven and cook for 90 minutes, until the meat starting to come away from the bone.
6. Gently take the meat out and set aside somewhere warm while you add the cream to the sauce and reduce to desired consistency on the hob.
7. Return the meat top the sauce, sprinkle with chives and serve with mash or crispy potato rösti.

Wine Pairing for Pork Shanks

This creamy pork dish can actually be matched with red or white wine. Of course, it comes down to your personal preference, but also the elements of the dish you’d like to bring out or enhance with your wine choice.

A juicy Malbec is a great match for pork, and it’s especially good with this dish. Opt for a hot climate Malbec for one that’s more fruit-driven, where you’ll find copious amounts of plum, bramble, cherry and blackberry that complement apple cider very nicely. A cool climate Malbec, on the other hand, will display notes of black pepper, so this is the way to go if you’d like to bring out the peppery heat of the Dijon mustard in the sauce.

If it’s the texture of the sauce you’d like to enhance then go for a Chardonnay. This is a rich and smooth white wine that even develops a buttery nuance after a little oak ageing. A wonderful texture match for a dish with a creamy, buttery sauce, and has a palate of stone fruit flavours that makes it a lovely flavour match for pork too.

Next up is Donald Russell’s Japanese Pork Ramen recipe. A fragrant and spicy hot broth that’s sure to warm your cockles on a cold autumn evening. With pungent herbs, citrus, chilli heat and umami flavours, this much-loved Asian dish is not only a rainbow of colours in your bowl, it’s a complex mix of strong savoury flavours. A trickier one to pair with wine, but we’ve got just the thing for it.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1tbsp finely grated ginger
1 tbsp finely grated garlic
2 red chilli
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
¼ cup (60ml) soy sauce
1 lt chicken stock
Sea salt and ground black pepper
460g ramen noodles
4 P375 2 free-range pork loin flash fry steaks
1 125g pack fresh shitake mushrooms, halved, sautéed
2 pak choi, halved, chargrilled
1 150g pack edamame beans
2 free-range 5-minute eggs
4 small red radishes
4 tbsp spring onion
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 finely sliced red chili
½ bunch coriander leaves
1 tsp sesame seeds

Method:

1. Sauté garlic, ginger and chilli in oil on medium heat for about 3 minutes, add sugar and deglaze with mirin and soy sauce. Add the chicken stock and simmer for at least 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Sauté pork steaks for 2 minutes on each side and rest in a warm place. Meanwhile finish your other toppings.
3. Cook the noodles in water following pack instructions, drain and refresh under cold water. Divide the noodles between 4 serving bowls and ladle over the stock.
4. Top with the pork, shitake mushrooms, bok choi, edamame, halved egg, radish, spring onion and garnish with lime wedges, chilli, coriander leaves and sesame seeds.

Wine Pairing for Pork Ramen

A dish with such prominent umami flavours (mushrooms, soy sauce, radishes, sesame seeds, eggs) calls for a fragrant white wine. We’d recommend a Pinot Gris – the richer, French version of Pinot Grigio – as it has the right balance of fruity flavours and crunchy acidity to complement these difficult umami flavours, as well as being a wonderful partner for pork steak. Pinot Gris from Alsace is known for being fuller bodied with a floral, perfumed character, making it the ultimate match for this aromatic Japanese treat.

Finally, we have Donald Russell’s Pork Goulash recipe. This is proper central European comfort food with big flavours and plenty of meat. Juicy tomatoes, red wine vinegar and paprika spice are the standout ingredients for us when it comes to wine pairing. Read on for the goulash recipe, which can be enjoyed by itself with a glass of vino, or served with rice, noodles or a dollop of mashed potato.

Ingredients:

2 packs diced pork 440g each
2 tbsp olive oil
4 onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp sweet paprika ground
1 litre beef stock
1 tsp cumin seeds
20 g marjoram (chopped)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp sour cream

Method:

1. Remove the meat from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
2. Heat the oil in a large braising pan before adding in the onions, garlic and pork, then braise and stir for 5 minutes.
3. Add the tomato purée and braise for a further 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle with paprika and deglaze with stock.
5. Add cumin, marjoram and vinegar into the pan, then bring to the boil.
6. Reduce the heat back down to a low heat and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
7. Arrange onto preheated plates, dot each portion with 1 tbsp sour cream and season with salt and pepper.

Wine Pairing for Pork Goulash

To complement the warm paprika and cumin in this dish, it’s got to be a spicy Spanish red. A classic Rioja has everything you need to enhance pork goulash – heaps of red fruit flavours to complement the pork, along with complex notes of tobacco, leather and spice that’ll intensify that paprika and cumin seasoning. Rioja also has noticeable acidity that can stand up to the acidity of the tomatoes (although this does soften once they’re cooked), and will obviously match well with the red wine vinegar in the goulash.