Pork Fricassee with Egg-Lemon Sauce and Celery

Method10 steps · about 1 hr 50 min

1. 1

   Step 1: Remove yellow leaves from the 2 kg green celery. Wash the celery thoroughly and cut each stalk into two or three pieces. Bring a large pan of parboiling water and a good pinch of salt to the boil.

   Uses 2 kg green celery, yellow leaves removed and stalks cut into 2–3 pieces · Water to parboil the celery; enough for the pan, amount unspecified · A good pinch of the divided salt

2. 2

   Step 2: Once the water is boiling, add the prepared celery and parboil for about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and set the parboiled celery aside.

   Parboil celery after water boils · 5 minUses Washed and cut celery · Boiling salted celery water

3. 3

   Step 3: Cut the 1.5 kg pork neck into chunky portions and pat dry. Season with some of the divided salt and pepper. Heat the ½ cup olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the pork on both sides until lightly coloured.

   Uses 1.5 kg boneless pork neck, cut into chunky portions · ½ cup olive oil · Salt to season the raw pork · Pepper to season the raw pork

4. 4

   Step 4: Add the 3 chopped red onions and the optional 2–3 chopped spring onions to the browned pork. Sauté until the onions soften without colouring.

   Uses Lightly browned pork and its pan oil · 3 medium red onions, finely chopped · 2–3 spring onions, chopped, optional

5. 5

   Step 5: Pour in the 2 cups lukewarm stewing water. Cover and simmer gently for about 1 hour.

   Simmer pork before adding celery · 60 minUses Browned pork with softened onions · 2 cups lukewarm water for stewing the pork

6. 6

   Step 6: Add the reserved parboiled celery and season with more of the divided salt and pepper to taste. Simmer gently for another 15–20 minutes, until the pork is tender and cooked through. Shake the pan occasionally by its handles instead of stirring with a spoon. Remove the pan from the stove before making the egg-lemon sauce.

   Finish simmering pork and celery · 20 minUses Pork and onions simmered for one hour · Reserved parboiled celery · Additional salt to taste · Additional pepper to taste

7. 7

   Step 7: Whisk the 2 eggs in a bowl. Gradually whisk in all the juice from the 2 lemons and the 1 tbsp cornstarch until the starch dissolves and the sauce mixture is smooth.

   Uses 2 eggs · 2 lemons, juice only · 1 tbsp cornstarch

8. 8

   Step 8: Take one ladle of hot stock from the cooked pork-celery stew and pour it gradually into the egg-lemon mixture while whisking quickly. Add one more ladle and whisk again so the eggs warm gradually. Use two ladles total; the sauce still needs its final heating.

   Uses Raw egg-lemon-cornstarch mixture · Two ladles of hot stock from the cooked stew

9. 9

   Step 9: Pour the tempered egg-lemon sauce back into the remaining pork-celery stew. Shake the pan gently to blend. Return to gentle heat and simmer for about 3 minutes, avoiding a vigorous boil that could curdle the sauce. Check that the sauce reaches at least 71.1°C / 160°F; continue gentle heating if needed.

   Gently heat the egg-lemon sauce · 3 minUses Tempered egg-lemon sauce containing the two ladles of stock · Remaining cooked pork-celery stew after removing two ladles of stock

10. 10

    Step 10: Remove the finished fricassee from the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes. Serve warm as six portions, dividing the pork, celery and egg-lemon sauce between the plates.

    Rest fricassee before serving · 5 minUses Fully heated pork-celery fricassee in egg-lemon sauce