Real Deal Canadian Bacon [aka Peameal Bacon]
This recipe was written in conjunction with my “trip” to Canada— check it out over on my Substack— and is an incredible, porky revelation.
Ingredients:
1 cup kosher salt (Note: The weight of this in grams depends on the type of salt you opt for. Diamond Crystal is about 137g while Morton’s is closer to 240g.)
320g maple syrup (Canadian, preferably)
1 tbsp freshly ground black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp Prague Powder #1
1 tbsp freshly ground mustard seeds
2kg boneless pork loin
225g (or more!) cornmeal
In a large saucepan, combine 1 liter of water with the salt, syrup and spices. Simmer the mixture on a low heat, stirring to dissolve the salt.
Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool.
Place your pork loin in a very large, preferably plastic, container.
Once the brine has cooled to lukewarm, pour it into the container with the pork loin along with an additional 3 liters of water.
Do your best to fully submerge the meat in the brine. You may need to weigh the loin down with a heavy plate or something similar in order to keep it under the liquid.
Cover the container with aluminum foil and then carefully transfer it to the refrigerator where it will hang out for 5 -7 days. If you like, check on your loin every day or so, flipping it over in its brine if any part of it is peeking out from under the liquid.
You’re doing it! You’re making Canadian bacon! You’re making charcuterie! Ooh la la!
After 5-7 days (the longer the cure the more intensely delicious the flavor, but 5 days should do the trick), remove the container from the refrigerator and then remove the loin from the brine.
Discard the brine, rinse the pork in cold water and then return the meat to the plastic container. Add enough cold water to the container to cover the meat. Then, carefully return it to the refrigerator and let it languish there for another day or at least 2 hours. This cold water dip removes some of the excess salt, so don’t skip it.
After your pork has desalinated for at least 2 hours, remove it from and then discard the water. Pat the pork dry with paper towels.
Grab your cornmeal and use your hands to cover and roll the pork loin in it. Strange? Yes. Delicious? Also, yes. Trust me.
That’s it. Technically. You now have peameal bacon. You did it. But if you want to eat your peameal bacon, you’re not done yet.
You’ve got a couple of peameal bacon consumption options at this point.
Slice a thick round off from the loin and fry it as you would back or streaky bacon. As loin isn’t a particularly fatty cut, you may need some oil or butter in your pan before your fry some off. Enjoy with eggs or in a sandwich or however you like.
You can also roast the whole thing—and I highly recommend this.
Fuck it—I highly recommend doing both! Have some fried slices with eggs for breakfast and then roast the rest of the bugger for dinner (or sandwich meat)!
To roast your peameal bacon loin, preheat the oven to 190C. Use a sharp knife to score the top in a criss-cross pattern. Pop the loin into a roasting pan. You can either put it in the oven and roast it as is, or (and I highly recommend this route) slather the top with a good coating of wholegrain or Dijon mustard and drizzle a generous amount of maple syrup over top.
Roast for 1-2 hours (checking after the first hour), or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 73 C.
ENJOY. Wow. It’s so good.
