You’ll find a grocery on the edge of South Norwalk near the Rt. 7 extension with blue awnings. It’s called The SONO Country Market. My buddy “Hoops” calls it the pig store. There’s an excellent butcher at the “Pig Store” his name’s Arullio and he smiled when I asked for a piece of pork loin with the belly meat attached, rib bones removed.

My vision for this dish comes from a truck at the farmers market on the Ferry Building property in San Fransisco. The outfit is called Roli Roti, a rotisserie on wheels. Their pork sandwich rocks! In my view the trick is on the butchers cut. That’s where Arullio comes into the picture. He did what I asked when he prepared this special cut, bone off, belly on, pork loin.

Ingredients for the Roli Roti Pork:

3 lb pork belly with loin on if possible
2 guajillo chilies, seeds removed, chopped into small pieces
6 spring onions, whites, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped into small pieces
3 tablespoons fresh garlic, chopped into small pieces
1/2 bunch of cilantro, leaves only
1 teaspoons salt

In this case I was able to get a portion of the pig that included the tail end of the loin with about 10 inches of belly connected. I started by removing the skin and leaving about 1/4 inch of belly fat on the roast. Then I laid the piece on a cutting board, fat side down, and seasoned the loin and belly with chopped guajillo chili, salt, sliced spring onions (whites), cilantro, chopped garlic, and chopped fresh ginger. I rolled the roast and placed it fat side up on top of the onion greens in a roasting pan. Started for an hour at high heat, 475ºF, then reduced the temperature to 350ºF. The next 3 hours did the trick, if the loin was larger it may need more time.

Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

Tonight our salad was a mix of radishes, carrots, spring onions, and cilantro, tossed in a vinaigrette made with garlic, ginger, cilantro, orange juice, white vinegar, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Then the salad is spooned over sliced avocado. Serve on a small side plate and place the pork on a serving of red rice in the center of your main plate.