Many countries have their own national varieties of cured pork fat – lardo, bacon, pancetta and many more. It seems that almost every culture has its own way of curing pork fat.

Salo is the Ukrainian cured pork fat and is the ultimate national food of Ukraine. Salo is so important to Ukraine that if you ever visit Ukraine, you’re not legally allowed to leave the country until you try some salo! Ok, maybe not. But there is a museum of salo with an on-site restaurant that has salo in every item on the menu – even in the desserts. How crazy is that?

When I was little, I remember my grandpa curing literally buckets of salo at a time. Studies have shown that 99.99% of men in Ukraine know how to cure pork fat – the other 0.01% have not read this post yet.

Salo is one of those national dishes that has a slightly different recipe in every household. Every family in Ukraine makes salo their own way following a recipe that has been secretly passed inside the family from father to son for multiple generations.

Traditionally, salo makes a great accompaniment to Borscht. If you don’t have borscht, you can simply serve salo with some rye bread and vodka. And you can feel good about it because in Soviet Ukraine salo cures you!

The key in making good salo is very good and very fresh piece of pork fat from a trusted source. Don’t bother making this with an off-the-shelf grocery piece. Go with a local grower, who is raising pigs the old way; our source have always been Dingo Farms. They do a fantastic job of raising their pigs in good conditions without the use of antibiotics, growth hormones and other nasty stuff.

You will only need a few ingredients to start:

2 lb organic pasture pork belly

2 cups sea salt

few bay leaves and peppercorns

a handful of garlic cloves

2 tsp red pepper flakes

Place the pork belly on a cutting board and let it sit for at least an hour in room temperature.

Fill about an inch of glass container with salt and place bacon on top. Layer bay leaves, peppercorns, red pepper flakes and garlic on top and cover it fully with salt.

Leave it in the fridge for 3-4 days and it’s done! Delicious and flavorful cured Ukrainian-style bacon, a.k.a salo.





5.0 from 3 reviews Cured Pork Fat (Salo) Save Print Author: Gastro Senses Cuisine: Eastern European Ingredients 2 lb organic pasture pork belly

2 cups sea salt

few bay leaves and peppercorns

a handful of garlic cloves

2 tsp red pepper flakes Instructions Place the pork belly on a cutting board and let it sit for at least an hour in room temperature. Fill about an inch of glass container with salt and place bacon on top. Layer bay leaves, peppercorns, red pepper flakes and garlic on top and cover it fully with salt. Leave it in the fridge for 3-4 days and it’s done! 3.4.3177

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