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1
Crush the juniper berries and bay leaves with a tablespoon of the salt in a mortar and pestle.
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2
Mix all the cure ingredients together.
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3
Trim your pork belly, if needed.
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4
Remove any hairs and nipples.
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5
(I know, kinda gross, but most butchers will do it for you unless you prefer things on the more rustic side.)
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6
Take a few handfuls of your cure and liberally rub the pork belly so its covered in the mixture.
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7
Place in a tupperware container or any other non-metallic container and place in the fridge for 24 hours.
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8
After 24 hours, remove from the fridge and drain the liquid the salt has forced from the meat.
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9
Add a few more handfuls of cure.
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10
Repeat this for two more days.
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11
On the fourth day, remove the bacon from the fridge and rinse all traces of the cure and spices.
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12
At this point, you can cut slices or you can hang it for 24-72 hours in a cool dark place.
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13
Since I favour instant gratification, I skip this step and slice the sucker up.
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14
Mmmm.
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15
You can experiment with the spices and sweet agent.
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16
Add maple syrup if you want, or smoked paprika if you like a smoked taste.
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17
Maybe some cumin or cayenne if you want to spice things up a bit.
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18
The world is your oyster ...
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19
I mean piglet.
