Russian finger food buzhenina roasted pork sliced)

Buzhenina – Russian roasted pork

Written by myRussianFoods.com on December 7, 2014. Posted in Finger Foods

Buzhenina is a traditional Russian starter. It is pork baked in 1 whole piece and served cold and sliced. Before getting into the oven, the meat is marinated in a salted brine and then stuffed with sliced garlic and/or carrots, and then covered with spices. Aromatic and tender slices of Russian buzhenina will be a perfect traditional finger food and an authentic treat for your guests.

Back in the day it making buzhenina was a long process but with the modern technique it is done very simple and straightforward.

What cuts of meat are used in buzhenina?

For roasted pork buzhenina take 1 whole piece of pork, preferably with some fat. Go for shoulder cuts or loin cuts (blade cut will be fattier, other leaner loin cuts that are suitable for roasting).

The leaner the cut the more careful you should be not to overcook it and make it dry.

How to roast buzhenina pork?

You can roast buzhenina pork in several layers of foil or in a oven bag. Some people boil buzhenina and leave it cool down in the water.

Roasted Russian buzhenina in an oven bag – recipe

Cooking time: 30 min preparations + 7 hours marinating+1 hour roasting

Ingredients:

1 piece of pork (up to 1300 gr/53 oz)

Water – 2.5 litres (0.6 gallon)

Cosher salt – 7 table spoons

Bay leaves – 10 (for brine) and 3 (for roast)

Garlic – 1/5 bulb

Carrot – 1/5

Spices: bay leaves (broken to small pieces), pepper corns (crushed), mustard seeds, thyme, terragon

Method:

Brine: Boil 2.5 litres of water and pour into a large pot. Add 7 table spoons of salt and 10 bay leaves, cool down.

Wash the pork cut, dry it up and pierce the meat with a toothpick in different places. Put the meat into the brine (it should be completely covered with water) and leave in a fridge over night or 7 hours.

Prepare the spices and finely chop garlic and carrot. Set the oven to 190 C/375 F.

Take the meat out of the brine, make cuts on both sides with a sharp knife and put a slice of garlic and carrot into each cut.

Cover both sides with spices and put the meat into the oven bag, leaving some space around it. Pierce the back in a few places with a tooth pick.

Roast for about 1 hour.

To check if the meat is cooked, pierce it though in the middle with a sharp knife– if the juice is pinky, the meat is not ready, if the juice is clear, the meat is cooked. Watch out not to overcook.