This is widely considered Denmark’s national dish and once you taste it, you’ll understand why. The crispy pork slices with parsley sauce is a simple but delicious dish that is typically served with boiled potatoes on the side.
Ingredients
For the main dish:
- 800g pork belly in slices (1 cm wide)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1kg potatoes
- 2 tbsp sea salt (for seasoning)
For the parsley sauce:
- 50g butter
- 35g plain flour (¼ cup)
- 500ml milk (2 cups)
- Chopped parsley (2 handfuls)
- Salt
- Pepper
Directions
For the pork:
- Preheat oven to 392°F (200°C).
- If the pork belly hasn’t already been cut by your butcher (which you can ask them to do) you will first need to cut it into 1 cm slices.
- Pop the pork onto a rack inside a roasting tray and brush it with oil. Season with the sea salt, making sure to get both sides of the pork.
- Place into the oven and cook for about 40 minutes (or until you can see it going golden and crispy). Make sure you turn the pork about halfway through cooking.
- Take it out and leave it to rest for 5 minutes with some foil covering it.
For the potatoes:
- Put the potatoes in a large saucepan — add salt to the water, bring it to the boil and then let them simmer for 15 minutes or so until they’re tender. Drain the water and leave the potatoes until everything is ready to be served.
For the parsley sauce:
- Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat.
- Stir in the flour and let it cook for a minute.
- Slowly pour in the cold milk while whisking, then let it simmer while you continue to stir the sauce. Do this until it thickens to the consistency you want (everyone has their own preference).
- Season it with the salt and pepper to your liking and stir the parsley through the sauce.
It’s now ready to be served — simply arrange the pork and potatoes on a plate and then drizzle the parsley sauce over the top. Extra parsley may be added to suit your desired taste.
Background: Crispy pork
In 2014, Denmark’s Food and Agriculture Minister held a competition to find the country’s national dish. With over 63,000 votes the consensus was clear and ‘Stegt Flæsk’ (crispy pork) won.
It was really no surprise to the Danes that this classic recipe came in at #1 as it’s been a favourite in the region since around the 1800s.
If you’re looking for more pork recipes from Denmark, you’re in luck, because the Danes love pork. It’s one of their most popular meats and you’ll find it used in a wide variety of traditional dishes.
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