Pork Belly Burnt Ends Sandwiches
When I decided to try my hand at crafting a mustard and tomato based barbecue sauce, I made a whole lot of it since that particular style of sauce has become my favorite. So even when I made an insane amount of barbecue chicken with the majority of the sauce, I still had a pint leftover laying in wait for the right project. That came last fall when I decided to craft these pork belly burnt end sandwiches and I thought the sharpness and heat of the barbecue sauce would pair especially well with the caramelized onions, beer cheese, and jalapeños I was planning to use as toppers.
I'll take any opportunity to make a batch of caramelized onions, and since I don't make them all that often, I like to fill up an entire Dutch oven with onions when I do. When I make them in this large a quantity, the initial step of letting the onions lose enough moisture until the start to leave a fond on the bottom of the pan can take a very long time. I've tried ways to speed this up over the years, but nothing matches just having patience and letting the process take as much time as it wants too. Luckily, if you're following this recipe, it calls for far less onions than I made and the initial cook can be as little as 20 minutes, and then once they begin to brown, you can go through to steps of deglazing and then developing fond again as many times as you like to reach your desired color and flavor—I like my onions a deep, dark brown, so I may spend more time doing this than the average person.
I was crafting this recipe in fall and the initial idea came from me just wanting to have some pretzel and beer cheese to nosh on, but since neither of those are grilling recipes, I decided to run with the concept and turn it into a sandwich. To make the beer cheese I employed the same process I use to make a macaroni and cheese sauce which started with making a roux and slowly whisking in the liquids, which were milk and beer in this instance. Once that thickened up a bit, I started to add in the cheese until it became a thick, but pourable sauce. I added the additional seasonings in last until I had a robust tasting cheese that felt like it would be a great match for the burnt ends.
Now onto the pork belly, which my local grocery sells with the skin on. Since it's common for me to not need the skin, I've gotten skilled at removing it and then creating some really great pork rinds out of them. Once I removed the skin from the few pieces of belly I purchased, I cut up the meat into roughly 2-inch cubes and transferred them to a large bowl.
In addition to the leftover sauce, I also had a bunch of rub sitting around the house too. So that made quick work of seasoning the belly, and you too can use your favorite barbecue rub here, but I also included the recipe for the one I applied in case you'd like to construct these sandwiches in the exact way I did.
The seasoned pork cubes then went into the smoker, which I had running at 225°F with a couple chunks of cherry wood tossed on the coals. I let the belly cook until the exteriors had darkened and the fat was soft and melty, which took around three hours.
The cooked belly bites went into a foil tray next, where I poured on the sauce and tossed the cubes until they were all well coated. Then back into the smoker the entire tray went and I let them continue to cook until the sauce had baked down a bit, a process that clocked in at an hour for me.
All that was left to do now was sandwich assembly, which started with a halved pretzel bun that got topped with pieces of pork belly burnt ends first. Then I set heaping tablespoons of caramelized onions of top of the meat and spooned on some beer cheese that I had reheated. Finally, a couple slices of pickled jalapeños were put in place and the sandwiches were ready for serving.
The pork belly burnt ends were the star of the show here with a soft and luscious fat that melted in your mouth and a deep barbecue flavor thanks to the rub, sauce, and notable smokiness. The sweet onions were a good balance to the spiciness of the pork and jalapeños, while the beer cheese brought a creamy richness to the party. While my original inclination was to craft a barbecue sandwich that would taste very appropriate for the fall season they were served in, which these delivered on, they were so tasty though that I don't think anyone would argue with eating them anytime of year!
