Niederbayerischer Surbraten

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Non-reactive brining container, 3 litre capacity
• •Heavy roasting pan
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine sieve

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the Sur

   Stir the salt and sugar into the cold water until fully dissolved, then add the garlic, bay, peppercorns, caraway, and juniper. Keep it cold. The salt must dissolve before the pork goes in, or the cure sits in patches and seasons unevenly.

   Use glass, ceramic, or food-safe plastic for the brine. Salt sitting for days in the wrong metal gives you a taste you didn't ask for.
2. 2

   Brine the pork

   Submerge the pork completely in the Sur, weigh it down with a small plate if it wants to float, cover it, and refrigerate it for 3 days. Turn it once a day so the cure works evenly through the shoulder. This is where the roast is made; the oven only finishes what the brine began.

3. 3

   Dry the roast

   Lift the pork from the brine, rinse it quickly, and pat it very dry. Leave it uncovered in the refrigerator for 2 hours, or on the counter for 45 minutes if the kitchen is cool. Dry surface browns; wet surface boils itself pale. Throw away the used brine, because it has done its work.

4. 4

   Build the pan

   Heat the oven to 160C. Rub the pork with the lard and a little black pepper, but add no more salt. Lay the onions, carrot, and any pork rind or bones in a roasting pan and set the meat on top. The vegetables keep the roast off the pan, and the bones give the jus body without a packet getting involved.

5. 5

   Roast low

   Roast for 2 hours, adding a splash of beer or stock after the first 45 minutes and again when the pan threatens to dry. Keep the liquid shallow, not halfway up the meat, because this is a roast with a pan jus, not a boiled shoulder. The meat is ready when a skewer slides in easily and the centre reaches about 75C.

6. 6

   Brown the top

   Raise the oven to 220C for the last 15 to 20 minutes if the top needs more colour. Watch it now. The cure makes the surface brown faster, and good colour is one thing; a bitter black crust is just a cook who walked away.

7. 7

   Rest and sauce

   Move the roast to a board and rest it 20 minutes, because slicing cured pork too soon lets the juice run out onto the board instead of staying in the meat. Pour the pan juices through a sieve into a small pot, press the onions hard, and simmer with the mustard until glossy. Taste before you salt. Most days it needs pepper, not salt.

8. 8

   Slice and serve

   Slice the Surbraten across the grain into thick, steady pieces and spoon the dark onion jus over the top. Serve with potato dumplings, sauerkraut, or a sharp cucumber salad if the plate needs lightness. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for pork shoulder or neck, not loin. Loin is tidy and lean, which means it dries out while you wait for it to taste of anything. Shoulder has the fat and connective tissue this dish needs.
• •Do not add extra salt before roasting. The cure has already seasoned the pork deep inside, and the pan jus concentrates as it reduces.
• •If you want a pink cured colour, use proper curing salt from a butcher and follow its packet strength exactly. For a home kitchen, plain salt gives the right flavour without guessing at nitrite.
• •Serve it with sauerkraut or red cabbage and Knödel, dumplings. The sharp cabbage cuts the cured pork, and the dumplings catch the jus. That is not decoration. That is the plate doing its work.

Advance Preparation

• •Start 3 days ahead for the brine. The pork needs that time for the salt to move through the shoulder instead of sitting at the surface.
• •The roast can be cooked a day ahead, chilled whole, then sliced cold and warmed gently in its jus. It slices cleaner that way and makes a good Sunday table easier.
• •Leftover Surbraten belongs on rye bread with mustard the next day. Weggeworfen wird nichts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 230g)